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Inorganic scintillators play a pivotal role in diverse fields like medical imaging, nondestructive detection, homeland security, and high‐energy physics. However, traditional inorganic scintillators encounter challenges such as high fabrication costs and low light yield. Recently, low‐dimensional metal halide scintillators (LDMHS) have witnessed rapid progress, owing to their distinctive crystal structure and superior radioluminescence performance. Herein, an overview of recent advancements and proposed instructive pathways for achieving high‐performance LDMHS is provided. First, the scintillation physical mechanism and emphasis on the essential requirements of scintillators for diverse applications are elucidated. Furthermore, LDMHS are classified according to B‐site cations, and their respective characteristics and recent advancements are introduced. This encompasses the understanding of structure‐property relationships and the routes and rules for optimizing scintillation performance. Finally, the persisting challenges in this burgeoning field and proposed potential research directions for future exploration are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) scintillators hold promising potential for applications in medical radiography and security detection, but the poor X‐ray absorption ability and inferior radioluminescence (RL) hampered their progression. Herein, the study has pioneered the development of high‐performance TADF Ag(I)‐based scintillators from M2X2(dppb)2 (M = Ag, Cu; X = Cl, Br, I) complexes with 1,2‐Bis(diphenylphosphino)benzene (dppb) ligand. In comparison with Cu(I) complexes, the Ag(I) series generally exhibited superior scintillation performance. Notably, Ag2Cl2(dppb)2 (Ag1) stands out with exceptionally high RL intensity (≈125% higher than that of CsI:Tl) and a low detection limit of 59.8 nGy s−1. The outstanding scintillation performance of Ag1 is primarily attributed to the synergistic effect of the high exciton utilization efficiency origin from a small singlet‐triplet energy gap, enhanced X‐ray absorption capacity by heavy atoms, and the high photoluminescence quantum yield (76.47% in ambient atmosphere). By fabricating a flexible film constructed with Ag1 submicron crystalline powders, a high spatial resolution of 25.0 lp mm−1 for X‐ray imaging is obtained. It offers new opportunities for utilizing TADF metal–organic complexes for highly efficient X‐ray scintillation and imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low‐dimensional organic–inorganic metal halides (OIMHs) have emerged as promising light emitters due to their broadband emission originating from self‐trapped excitons (STE), especially for Cu‐based OIMHs. Herein, Cu(I)‐based OIMH with a structure of (TPP)2Cu4I6·2DMSO (TPP stays for tetraphenylphosphonium, and DMSO – for dimethyl sulfoxide) has been synthesized, both in form of single crystals and as a microcrystalline powder. This compound exhibits a broadband green emission with a peak at 515 nm and a full width at half‐maximum of 78 nm, and a near‐unity photoluminescence quantum yield of 99.5%. Experimental data supported by theoretical calculations indicate that the STE emission is responsible for the green emission with a long lifetime of 2.53 µs. Down‐conversion light‐emitting device with a high luminous efficiency of 50 lm W−1 based on this compound have been fabricated, and white light has also been achieved with a high color rendering index of 96.7. Moreover, green emissive (TPP)2Cu4I6·2DMSO is utilized in scintillators for X‐ray detection and imaging, and as a luminescent ink for encryption applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Broadband emissive perovskites are next‐generation materials for solid‐state lighting and radiative detection. However, white‐emitting perovskites are generally synthesized by regulating B/X sites, while not enough attention is paid to the A‐site, which is thought to hardly affect the band‐edge structures and optoelectronic properties. Here, a series of Sb3+‐doped In‐based 0D halide perovskite derivatives are described with various organoammonium cations in A‐sites. Warm‐white light emitting across the visible spectrum (450–850 nm), large Stokes shifts, and high photoluminescence quantum yields are easily tunable by molecularly tailoring A‐site cations. These features enable a light yield up to 60976 Photons/MeV as X‐ray scintillator, and a detection limit of 90 nGyair/s that is ≈60 times lower than the medical requirement. It is proved that A‐site plays a critical role in determining the degree of distortion of polyhedra, which influences the broadband photoluminescence and self‐trapped exciton (STE) dominates the emission process. Moreover, for the first time, via the incorporation of 2,6‐dimethylpiperazine, a mixed A‐site regulating strategy produces a standard white‐light emission, which originates from the blue‐light and yellow‐light related to various STE emission centers. It is foreseen that this strategy highlights the expanded role of A‐site and the importance of rethinking A‐sites in perovskites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fast and high‐linearity detection of fast neutron is vital for special nuclear material seeking, nuclear accident emergency response, nondestructive neutron imaging, and neutron cancer therapy. Neutron scintillators with fast time resolution and linear energy response are indispensable for precisely acquiring the energy and temporal evolution of fast neutron, but none of the conventional neutron scintillators, whether organic, two‐component or inorganic, have performed well in this regard. To address these challenges, it is urgent to develop novel neutron scintillators. Here, 2D hybrid perovskite single crystals (C4H12N)2PbBr4 (BA2PbBr4) successfully combined with fast response time of 2.66 ns and linear energy response to fast neutrons, γ ray, and α particle, is reported. The rapid response time and linear energy response of 2D hybrid perovskite scintillator originate from intensive states density of lead halide frameworks, which are the key fluorescence emitters under neutron irradiation. This effectively suppresses the ionization quenching effect during the fluorescence process. This work represents a milestone in fast neutron detection, demonstrating a new type of neutron scintillator based on 2D hybrid perovskite single crystals with fast and high‐linearity detection characteristics, having great potential in high precision neutron spectrum measurement and nuclear reaction kinetics monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The search for efficient, re-absorption-free scintillators has recently focused the attention on antimony-based halides, which exhibit largely Stokes shifted luminescence due to radiative recombination of excitons self-trapped (STE) in strongly Jahn-Teller distorted Sb3+ color centers. Here, the synthesis of a hybrid structure is reported with chemical formula (C13H14N3)3SbCl6 consisting of spatially isolated [SbCl6]3- octahedra separated by organic N, N'-diphenylguanidinium (Gua) molecules. The optical properties of this material are mainly determined by the inorganic component and are characterized by a pronounced Stokes shift of "1.3 eV and a room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) efficiency of up to 85%. Remarkably, highly efficient radioluminescence (RL) is observed with scintillation light yields of "2000 ph MeV-1 using both soft X-rays and a 124 keV gamma source. Temperature-dependent PL and RL measurements confirm the minor role of non-radiative channels, which are completely suppressed below 100 K. Thermally stimulated luminescence measurements suggest that the traps in Gua3SbCl6 crystals have a significantly large energy depth distribution below the absorbing state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lead‐free metal halides have recently received sustained attention because of their nontoxicity, low‐cost, as well as excellent stability and optoelectronic properties. However, most of the reported lead‐free metal halides are synthesized via slow solution‐processing at high temperature in toxic solvents, which may impede their commercial applications. Here, a solvent‐free strategy is proposed to synthesize inorganic rubidium copper halides (Rb2CuX3, X = Cl, Br) at room temperature, which exhibit efficient violet emission dominated by a self‐trapped excitons (STEs) mechanism and attractive stabilities against ultraviolet illumination and heating. Thus, Rb2CuX3 powders are employed as emitters and scintillators applied in wireless light communication and X‐ray imaging technologies. Under orthogonal frequency division multiplexing modulation, emitters demonstrate a broad −3 dB bandwidth of 26.3 MHz and a high received data rate of 205.1 Mbps. Additionally, flexible scintillation films based on as‐prepared powders are fabricated and show outstanding X‐ray scintillation properties, including a high spatial resolution of 18.1 lp mm−1 and a low detection limit of 104 nGyair s−1, as well as promising imaging performance for irregular objects. These results suggest large‐scale production of nontoxic Rb2CuX3 and their potential commercialization in fields of high‐speed light communication and X‐ray radiography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferroptosis therapy induced by iron‐catalyzed Fenton reaction has offered enormous opportunities for tumor therapy. Unfortunately, high catalytic activity ferrous (Fe2+)‐based therapeutic agent has remained challenging due to the instability of Fe2+. Herein, an X‐ray‐activated Fe2+ supply platform, termed "PFCN", containing the core of CaWO4 nanoscintillator to emit ultraviolet (UV) light and Fe3O4 decorated on the surface to deliver excessive Fe2+ is proposed. Under X‐ray excitation, the UV light emitted by CaWO4 can catalyze ferric (Fe3+) to generate Fe2+, which further cascades the Fenton reaction to induce highly toxic hydroxyl radicals generation. More importantly, immunogenic cell death‐associated immunotherapy is simultaneously triggered during this process. Experiments conducted in vitro and in vivo revealed that X‐ray‐triggered PFCN shows superior tumor therapeutic efficacy, contributing i) enhanced radiotherapy; ii) X‐ray‐activated ferroptosis therapy; and iii) ferroptosis/radiotherapy‐induced immunotherapy. Besides, PFCN can be utilized as an MR/CT dual‐mode imaging contrast agent for tumor diagnosis and treatment monitoring. The study provides a novel example of an X‐ray‐activated ferrous‐regeneration platform for imaging‐guided augmenting tumor ferroptosis/immunotherapy [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fast neutron and X‐ray imaging are considered complementary nondestructive detection technologies. However, due to their opposite cross‐sections, development of a scintillator that is sensitive to both fast neutrons and X‐rays within a single‐material framework remains challenging. Herein, an organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite (C4H9NH3)2PbBr4 (BPB) is demonstrated as a scintillator that fully meets the requirements for both fast neutron and X‐ray detection. The hydrogen‐rich organic component acts as a fast neutron converter and produces detectable recoil protons. The heavy atom‐rich inorganic fraction efficiently deposits the energy of charged recoil protons and directly provides a large X‐ray cross‐section. Due to the synergy of these organic and inorganic components, the BPB scintillator exhibits high light yields (86% of the brightness of a commercial ZnS (Ag)/6LiF scintillator for fast neutrons; 22 000 photons per MeV for X‐rays) and fast response times (τdecay = 10.3 ns). More importantly, energy‐selective fast neutron and X‐ray imaging are also demonstrated, with high resolutions of ≈1 lp mm−1 for fast neutrons and 17.3 lp mm−1 for X‐rays; these are among the highest resolution levels for 2D perovskite scintillators. This study highlights the potential of 2D perovskite materials for use in combined fast neutron and X‐ray imaging applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper metal halides have emerged as a strong contender in the scintillator field due to the self‐trapped excitons (STEs) mechanism. However, their development has been hindered by the preparation process. Single crystals have long growth cycles and cannot achieve large areas and flexibility. Quantum dots have a low yield and can easily cause chemical pollution, and the thickness of films prepared by the spin coating cannot be controlled. To address these challenges, a new method for preparing Cs3Cu2Cl5 using sequential vacuum evaporation is developed. This allows successful preparation of large‐area (≈100 cm2) and flexible films. The STEs mechanism of Cs3Cu2Cl5 gives it unique properties such as a large Stokes shift that reduces self‐absorption effects, and a wide full width at half‐maximum that improves coupling with photodiodes. Therefore, Cs3Cu2Cl5 is applied to X‐ray imaging with a light yield of ≈30 000 photons MeV−1, a spatial resolution of over 10 lp mm−1, and a low detection limit below 0.8 µGyair s−1. In addition, the flexible Cs3Cu2Cl5 film enables effective dynamic imaging and clear imaging on non‐planar objects. It also exhibits good resistance to harsh environments, maintaining good imaging performance after 150 days. It is believed that sequential vacuum evaporation provides an important idea for preparing scintillators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substitutional lanthanide doping of 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) is expected to be a promising strategy to engineer optical, electronic, and optoelectronic properties of TMDs. Understanding the interactions between lanthanide dopants and 2D TMDs host is one of the key problems to be resolved for their profound research studies. Herein, the interactions between Ce dopants and monolayer WS2 in a physical vapor deposition grown Ce‐doped WS2 monolayer are studied by combining scanning tunneling microscopy with optical characterizations with high spatial and temporal resolution. It is found that the highly anisotropic crystal field can effectively split the energy levels of the Ce dopants' f orbital. The electrons in the split energy levels can bind the holes in the valence band maximum of the Ce‐doped WS2, forming optical bright excitons. These excitons collide with the free A excitons when increasing the pump fluences, reducing the A exciton's lifetime. This study may be beneficial for the design and fabrication of optical, electronic, and optoelectronic devices based on lanthanide‐doped TMDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scintillators with high light yield, low detection limit, large X‐ray attenuation efficiency as well as stable and nontoxic compositions are of great importance for radiation detection applications. Here, 0D (C8H20N)2Cu2Br4 single crystals are obtained and show blue emission peaking at 468 nm with a near‐unity photoluminescence quantum yield of 99.7%, a large Stokes shift of 148 nm (i.e., negligible self‐absorption), and a good environmental stability along with strong X‐ray absorption capability. Moreover, a high light yield of up to ≈ 91 300 photons/MeV and a low detection limit of 52.1 nGyair s−1 are realized, which is more than one hundred times lower than the dose rate of 5.5 µGyair s−1 required for X‐ray medical diagnostics. (C8H20N)2Cu2Br4 ceramic wafer scintillation screen is fabricated by a cold pressing sintering process, and the clear contrast images of opaque metal box and electronic component with a spatial resolution of 9.54 lp mm−1 are realized. This study not only designs a new lead‐free metal halide scintillator, but also develops a universal strategy for the preparation of large‐sized scintillator screen in nondestructive X‐ray imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of metal‐halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) that yield bright and stable emission is of great importance. Previous reported perovskite NCs are mostly based on APbX3‐type family fabricated via ligand‐ or surfactant‐assisted chemical approaches. However, realizing bright and stable emission remains a challenge because of desorption of ligands/surfactants during long‐term operation. Herein, Ruddlesden–Popper (RP)‐type (A)2(MA)n‐1PbnBr3n+1 NCs with size less than Bohr radius stabilized in mesoporous silica scaffold, which are prepared in situ via physical approach at low temperature are introduced. The RP NCs in mesoporous silica exhibit the formation of spatially and electronically separated quantum wells, efficient energy funneling between different n phases for bright emission (photoluminescence quantum yields of ≈99%), high irradiation stability (T70 = 110 days), and long‐term stability (T90 = 110 days). These RP NCs have broad potential for bright light‐emitting diodes, high‐resolution PL imaging, and waterproof inks. Importantly, for the first time, stretchable perovskite X‐ray scintillator is demonstrated with excellent X‐ray imaging with resolution greater than 14 line pairs mm−1. These findings offer a paradigm to motivate future research toward stable and efficient perovskite optoelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of metal‐halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) that yield bright and stable emission is of great importance. Previous reported perovskite NCs are mostly based on APbX3‐type family fabricated via ligand‐ or surfactant‐assisted chemical approaches. However, realizing bright and stable emission remains a challenge because of desorption of ligands/surfactants during long‐term operation. Herein, Ruddlesden–Popper (RP)‐type (A)2(MA)n‐1PbnBr3n+1 NCs with size less than Bohr radius stabilized in mesoporous silica scaffold, which are prepared in situ via physical approach at low temperature are introduced. The RP NCs in mesoporous silica exhibit the formation of spatially and electronically separated quantum wells, efficient energy funneling between different n phases for bright emission (photoluminescence quantum yields of ≈99%), high irradiation stability (T70 = 110 days), and long‐term stability (T90 = 110 days). These RP NCs have broad potential for bright light‐emitting diodes, high‐resolution PL imaging, and waterproof inks. Importantly, for the first time, stretchable perovskite X‐ray scintillator is demonstrated with excellent X‐ray imaging with resolution greater than 14 line pairs mm−1. These findings offer a paradigm to motivate future research toward stable and efficient perovskite optoelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, the first study on the scintillation properties of CsCu2X3 and Cs3Cu2X5 (where X: Cl−, Br−, I−) is presented, describing their charged particle‐induced luminescence involving electrons, protons, α‐particles, and heavy ions, as well as revealing their capabilities on the timing and spectroscopic evaluation of single‐particle events. The thin layers are prepared with a simple and cost‐effective deposition procedure, without the incorporation of external dopants, exploiting the intrinsic radiative recombination observed in low‐dimensional perovskites. The combined effect of the high binding energy and localized stability of self‐trapped excitons, large Stokes shift, defect tolerance, and the high excitation density along the particle track leads to the emergence of boosted scintillation pulses. The observations demonstrate the first use of inorganic thin‐film scintillators with optical pulse characteristics and light yield competitive with doped single crystal scintillators, while also providing improved structural and functional stability under extreme environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Halide perovskites are an emerging scintillator material for X‐ray imaging. High‐quality X‐ray imaging generally requires high spatial resolution and long operation lifetime, especially for targeted objects with irregular shapes. Herein, a perovskite "polymer–ceramics" scintillator, in which the halide perovskite nanocrystals are grown inside a pre‐solidified polymer structure with high viscosity (6 × 1012 cP), is designed to construct flexible and refreshable X‐ray imaging. A nucleation inhibition strategy is proposed to prevent the agglomeration and Ostwald ripening of perovskite crystals during the subsequent precipitation process, enabling a high‐quality polymer–ceramics scintillator with high transparency. This scintillator‐based detector achieves a detection limit of 120 nGy s–1 and a spatial resolution of 12.5 lp mm–1. Interestingly, due to the anchoring effect of the exfoliated atoms provided by the polymer matrix, the scintillator film can be refreshed after a long duration (≥3 h) and high dose (8 mGy s–1) irradiation. More importantly, this inherent characteristic overcomes the long operation lifetime issue of perovskites‐based scintillators. Hence, the authors' exploration of the polymer–ceramics scintillator paves the way for the development of flexible and durable perovskite scintillators that can be produced at a low operation cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both semiconductors and scintillators have their own advantages in direct and indirect X‐ray detection, respectively. However, they are also limited by their intrinsic properties and detection mechanisms. Here, a low‐cost and large‐area flat X‐ray detector is reported by combining a cesium silver bismuth bromide (Cs2AgBiBr6) perovskite semiconductor with a ethylenebis‐triphenylphosphonium manganese (II) bromide ((C38H34P2)MnBr4) scintillator through fast tableting processes. Cs2AgBiBr6 and (C38H34P2)MnBr4 can attenuate the X‐ray photons to induce charge carriers that are collected through the continuous Cs2AgBiBr6 grains. (C38H34P2)MnBr4 blocks the Cs2AgBiBr6 ions migration paths at the grain boundaries to reduce the device dark current/noise and improves the working stability. Most charges generated by (C38H34P2)MnBr4 are transferred to the adjacent Cs2AgBiBr6, and recombined charges radiate light through scintillation, which will be further absorbed by the surrounding Cs2AgBiBr6 perovskite, and further induce collectable charges for indirect X‐ray detection, avoiding the unwanted light scattering, self‐absorption, or afterglow effects of scintillators. The hybrid X‐ray detector displays a high sensitivity of 114 µC Gyair−1 cm−2 to 120 keVp hard X‐rays with a lowest detectable dose rate of 0.2 μGyair s−1, showing 75 times lower detection limit compared to (C38H34P2)MnBr4 scintillator, which provides a new path for X‐ray flat‐panel design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lead halide perovskites (LHP) are rapidly emerging as efficient, low‐cost, solution‐processable scintillators for radiation detection. Carrier trapping is arguably the most critical limitation to the scintillation performance. Nonetheless, no clear picture of the trapping and detrapping mechanisms to/from shallow and deep trap states involved in the scintillation process has been reported to date, as well as on the role of the material dimensionality. Here, this issue is addressed by performing, for the first time, a comprehensive study using radioluminescence and photoluminescence measurements side‐by‐side to thermally‐stimulated luminescence (TSL) and afterglow experiments on CsPbBr3 with increasing dimensionality, namely nanocubes, nanowires, nanosheets, and bulk crystals. All systems are found to be affected by shallow defects resulting in delayed intragap emission following detrapping via a‐thermal tunneling. TSL further reveals the existence of additional temperature‐activated detrapping pathways from deeper trap states, whose effect grows with the material dimensionality, becoming the dominant process in bulk crystals. These results highlight that, compared to massive solids where the suppression of both deep and shallow defects is critical, low dimensional nanostructures are more promising active materials for LHP scintillators, provided that their integration in functional devices meets efficient surface engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid manganese halide has attracted much attention in the field of environment friendly ferroelectric and photo‐responsive multifunctional materials. Here, the highly efficient photoluminescent inorganic framework MnBr42− is utilized to conceive and synthesize a series of hybrid manganese bromide compounds [RQ]2MnBr4 by introducing precisely designed quasi‐spherical cations [RQ]+ (R = H, Me, Et, FEt, Q = quinuclidine). The accurate and effective modification of cations not only achieves the satisfactory ferroelectricity, but also enhances the photoluminescence quantum yield from 38.7% to 83.65%. Moreover, [FEtQ]2MnBr4 shows a highly efficient X‐ray scintillator performance, including a large range of linear response to X‐ray dose rate from 0.3 to 414.2 μGyair s−1, a high light yield of 34 438 photons per MeV, and a low detection limit of 258 nGyair s−1. This work provides an efficient strategy for the preparation of hybrid manganese halide ferroelectrics with highly efficient light‐emission and X‐ray detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real‐time in vivo detection of cancer via attenuation‐based plain X‐ray imaging is proposed to fundamentally overcome the penetration depth limits of current fluorescence‐based imaging techniques. Using cesium lead bromide (CsPbBr3, CPB) quantum dot (QD) scintillators, real‐time X‐ray detection of 5 mm‐sized Panc‐1 cell tumors grown in a mouse is successfully performed. The QDs are rapidly co‐synthesized and double‐encapsulated with silicon dioxide (SiO2) to completely prevent them from being aggregated, decomposed, or released; they are then conjugated with antibodies to target pancreatic cancer. Due to the dramatic X‐ray attenuation, the X‐ray signal from the CPB QDs placed under the 2 cm‐thick tissue is clearly observed, while their fluorescence signal is not detected at all. In in vivo mouse experiments, the injection of a tiny amount (2.8 μg on a QD basis) of the CPB–SiO2@SiO2–Ab nanoparticles gives rise to a bright spot at the location of the tumor. Cell viability assay and histological analysis confirm the biocompatibility and nontoxicity of the nanoparticles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental friendly metal halides have become emerging candidates as energy downconverting emitters for lighting and X‐ray imaging applications. Herein, luminescent single crystals of tetramethylammonium manganese chloride (C4H12NMnCl3) and tetraethylammonium bromide ((C8H20N)2MnBr4) are synthesized via a facile room‐temperature evaporation method. C4H12NMnCl3 and (C8H20N)2MnBr4 with octahedrally and tetrahedrally coordinated Mn2+ have correspondingly exhibited red and green emission peaking at 635 and 515 nm both originating from 4T1–6A1 transition of Mn2+ with high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 91.8% and 85.1% benefiting from their specific crystal structures. Thanks to their strong photoexcitation under blue light, high PLQY, tunable emission spectra, good environmental stability, the white light‐emitting diode based on blending of C4H12NMnCl3 and (C8H20N)2MnBr4 delivers an outstanding luminous efficacy of 96 lm W−1, approaching commercial level, and shows no obvious photoluminescence intensity degradation after 3000 h under operation. In addition, manganese halides also demonstrate interesting characteristics under X‐ray excitation, C4H12NMnCl3 and (C8H20N)2MnBr4 exhibit steady‐state X‐ray light yields of 50 500 and 24 400 photons MeV−1, low detectable limits of 36.9 and 24.2 nGyair s−1, good radiation hardness, and X‐ray imaging demonstration with high‐resolution of 5 lp mm−1. This work presents a new avenue for luminescent Mn‐based metal halides toward multifunctional light‐emitting applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scintillators for radiation detection are of great significance in medical imaging, security, and nondestructive inspection. The current challenge for scintillators is to simultaneously achieve high scintillation light yield, fast radioluminescence, simple film fabrication, large X‐ray attenuation efficiency as well as stable and nontoxic compositions; no previous scintillators fulfill all the above requirements. Here, metal halide Rb2AgBr3, possessing defect‐bound excitonic radioluminescence, is shown as efficient and fast scintillators. This nontoxic and stable scintillator emits from excitons bound to neutral bromine vacancies, enjoying an efficient and spin‐allowed fast emission with minimized self‐absorption. Rb2AgBr3 thus has a high light yield (25 600 photons MeV−1), fast scintillation decay time (5.31 ns), and a record value of light yield versus decay time (4821 photons MeV−1 ns−1). The close‐space sublimation method is developed for fast and scalable fabrication of oriented Rb2AgBr3 films. The scintillator film is further integrated with commercial flat‐panel imagers, and the spatial resolution reaches 10.2 line pairs per millimeter at the modulation transfer function of 0.2, doubling the resolution of conventional CsI:Tl flat‐panel detectors. The dynamic X‐ray imaging and its use to real‐time monitoring of bone movement without ghosting effect is also demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thrombosis is a frequent predisposing factor in high‐mortality cardiovascular diseases, which underscores the urgent need to precisely diagnose thrombosis formation at a less severe stage. However, it is still challenging to realize in vivo early thrombosis imaging due to lack of high sensitivity/‐specificity molecular imaging strategy. To address such problems, thrombin‐activatable scintillating nanoprobes are developed for background‐free X‐ray‐excited luminescence (XEL) imaging of in vivo early thrombosis. The nanoprobes are constructed by designing bright XEL‐emitting lanthanide‐doped scintillator nanocrystals (NCs) with dye labeled‐peptide modification. Such nanoprobes show XEL‐off originally and enable robust turn‐on XEL upon thrombin‐specific cleavage of the peptide, resulting from the rational manipulation of energy transfer between dye and NCs. Specially, due to high tissue penetration depth and background‐free attributes in XEL imaging, this strategy achieves high‐efficiency XEL imaging of the early thrombosis on the basis of in situ elevated thrombin levels. Moreover, XEL and magnetic resonance imaging capabilities can be integrated to further improve imaging accuracy and monitor thrombosis progression. As such, the exploited strategy demonstrates a novel paradigm for realizing timely thrombosis imaging and provides a new readily tailorable platform for sensitive in vivo deep‐tissue imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the temperature dependence of the photoluminescence of Yb2+ doped into the halidoperovskites CsMX3 (M = Ca, Sr; X = Cl, Br, I) is presented. Yb2+ shows spin-forbidden high-spin (HS) and spin-allowed low-spin (LS) emission bands in all compounds. Upon excitation of the higher energetic LS transition, very different behaviors of the interplay of the two emissive transitions are observed. In the chlorides, the HS-based emission becomes already dominant at higher temperatures than 50 K; in the bromides, a temperature-dependent population of the HS state is observed at higher temperatures than 200 K, whereas in the iodides, the LS emission remains dominant even above 300 K. A vibrational relaxation model is attempted for the explanation of this behavior that reveals a very delicate dependence on the mode energies of the [YbX6]4− octahedra. FIR spectra of the pure Yb2+-based compounds CsYbX3 are also presented to experimentally verify the estimated average mode energies from the model. Finally, the relevance for novel Yb2+-based scintillators is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study shows the first use of inorganic thin-film scintillators with optical pulse characteristics and light yield competitive with doped single crystal scintillators, while also providing improved structural and functional stability under extreme environmental conditions. Alpha-particle detections, cesium-copper-halides, detectors, ionizing radiations, perovskites, polycrystalline, scintillators Keywords: alpha-particle detections; cesium-copper-halides; detectors; ionizing radiations; perovskites; polycrystalline; scintillators EN alpha-particle detections cesium-copper-halides detectors ionizing radiations perovskites polycrystalline scintillators 1 1 1 11/29/22 20221124 NES 221124 B Alpha-Particle Detections b In article number 2206645, Csaba Janáky, Mátyás Hunyadi, and coworkers demonstrate the spectroscopic detection of charged particles with cesium copper halide thin films. [Extracted from the article]

Organic single crystals (OSCs) have ideal qualities (well defined structure and morphology, lack of grain boundaries, high purity, 3D long range order, good electronic transport properties) for several technological applications, in particular as key components for electronic devices. It is only recently that OSCs have been considered as ionizing radiation detectors, and the latest developments in this field are here reported. In the first section, various methods for OSC growth are described, with emphasis on cost-effective, solution-based approaches capable of delivering large volume, well performing crystals. The second section is focused on the use of solution-grown OSCs as scintillators (i.e., as high energy photon to UV-vis photon conversion), highlighting the ability of cm-scale OSCs to effectively detect neutrons and to carry out neutrons-gamma pulse-shape discrimination tasks. Finally, the third section describes the use of semiconducting, solution-grown OSCs as effective solid state direct detectors (i.e., directly converting high energy photons into charge carriers), evidencing extremely promising performances in terms of operability in environmental conditions (i.e., no need for encapsulation), radiation hardness, linear response and low operating voltage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metal halides, molecular design, molecular ferroelectrics, X-ray detection Keywords: metal halides; molecular design; molecular ferroelectrics; X-ray detection EN metal halides molecular design molecular ferroelectrics X-ray detection 1 1 1 08/28/21 20210826 NES 210826 B Ferroelectric Scintillators b In article number 2102848, Li-Zhuang Chen, Yi Zhang, and co-workers present a series of metal halide compounds [RQ] SB 2 sb MnBr SB 4 sb (R = H, methyl, ethyl, fluoroethyl, Q = quinuclidine). The precisely designed modulation towards cations not only arouses the satisfactory ferroelectricity of [FEtQ] SB 2 sb MnBr SB 4 sb , but also drastically enhances the photoluminescence quantum yield from 38.7% to 83.65%. [Extracted from the article]

In Vivo Plain X-Ray Imaging of Cancer Using Perovskite Quantum Dot Scintillators (Adv. Funct. Cancer detection, cesium lead bromide, perovskite quantum dots, plain X-ray imaging, X-ray attenuation Keywords: cancer detection; cesium lead bromide; perovskite quantum dots; plain X-ray imaging; X-ray attenuation EN cancer detection cesium lead bromide perovskite quantum dots plain X-ray imaging X-ray attenuation 1 1 1 08/23/21 20210820 NES 210820 B Cancer Detection b In article number 2102334, Young-Seok Cho, Rose Du, Sanggyu Yim, and co-workers propose attenuation-based real-time plain X-ray imaging of deep-seated tumors using CsPbBr SB 3 sb perovskite quantum dots stably protected in SiO SB 2 sb nanoparticles. [Extracted from the article]

Organic single crystals (OSCs) have only recently been considered for applications as ionizing radiation detectors, both as scintillators and as solid state direct detectors. On page 2276, B. Fraboni and co‐workers review the latest developments in this field, discussing the specificall relevant properties of OSCs as well as the most effective and convenient methods for their growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]