TY - JOUR
T1 - Lithium Chloride-Substituted Methylammonium Lead Tribromide Perovskites for Dual γ/Neutron Sensing
AU - Tan, Ryan
AU - Dryzhakov, Bogdan
AU - Higgins, Kate
AU - Charest, Jessica
AU - Dancoes, Zachary
AU - Kandlakunta, Praneeth
AU - Cao, Lei R.
AU - Ahmadi, Mahshid
AU - Hu, Bin
AU - Lukosi, Eric
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/8/3
Y1 - 2022/8/3
N2 - Dual γ/neutron radiation sensors are a critical component of the nuclear security mission to prevent the proliferation of a special nuclear material (SNM). While high-performing semiconductors such as high purity germanium (HPGe) and CdZnTe (CZT) already exist in the nuclear security enterprise, their high cost and/or logistical burdens make widespread deployment difficult to achieve. Metal lead halide perovskites (MHPs) have attracted interest in recent years to address this challenge. In particular, methylammonium lead tribromide (CH3NH3PbBr3, MAPbBr3, or MAPB) has been widely evaluated for its radiation sensing capabilities. While previous studies have demonstrated low-energy X-ray and α particle sensing of MAPB-based detectors and several studies discuss the potential for γray sensing, neutron sensing of this material has been rarely explored. Here, we explore the incorporation of lithium in the form of LiCl into the MAPB structure to add thermal neutron sensitivity. Characterizations of the lithium-doped MAPB crystals demonstrate that quality growths are achievable with single crystals that exhibit high crystallinity, no phase change, and high macroscopic bulk quality. Finally, we report on the first demonstrated γray and thermal neutron sensing based on lithium-doped MAPB single crystals, which is a significant milestone in the development of 3D dual γ/neutron MHP sensors.
AB - Dual γ/neutron radiation sensors are a critical component of the nuclear security mission to prevent the proliferation of a special nuclear material (SNM). While high-performing semiconductors such as high purity germanium (HPGe) and CdZnTe (CZT) already exist in the nuclear security enterprise, their high cost and/or logistical burdens make widespread deployment difficult to achieve. Metal lead halide perovskites (MHPs) have attracted interest in recent years to address this challenge. In particular, methylammonium lead tribromide (CH3NH3PbBr3, MAPbBr3, or MAPB) has been widely evaluated for its radiation sensing capabilities. While previous studies have demonstrated low-energy X-ray and α particle sensing of MAPB-based detectors and several studies discuss the potential for γray sensing, neutron sensing of this material has been rarely explored. Here, we explore the incorporation of lithium in the form of LiCl into the MAPB structure to add thermal neutron sensitivity. Characterizations of the lithium-doped MAPB crystals demonstrate that quality growths are achievable with single crystals that exhibit high crystallinity, no phase change, and high macroscopic bulk quality. Finally, we report on the first demonstrated γray and thermal neutron sensing based on lithium-doped MAPB single crystals, which is a significant milestone in the development of 3D dual γ/neutron MHP sensors.
KW - lithium doping
KW - methylammonium lead tribromide
KW - neutron sensing
KW - perovskite
KW - γ/X-ray sensing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135597506&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acsami.2c05024
DO - 10.1021/acsami.2c05024
M3 - Article
C2 - 35867970
AN - SCOPUS:85135597506
SN - 1944-8244
VL - 14
SP - 34571
EP - 34582
JO - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
JF - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
IS - 30
ER -