In-situ grown polymer-ceramic scintillator and applications on X-ray multi-energy curved surface imaging

Hongyu Lv; Chen Huo; Kenan Zhang; Qun Hao; Menglu Chen

doi:10.1186/s43074-025-00179-2

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Hongyu Lv, Chen Huo, Kenan Zhang, Qun Hao, Menglu Chen. In-situ grown polymer-ceramic scintillator and applications on X-ray multi-energy curved surface imaging[J]. PhotoniX. doi: 10.1186/s43074-025-00179-2

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Hongyu Lv, Chen Huo, Kenan Zhang, Qun Hao, Menglu Chen. In-situ grown polymer-ceramic scintillator and applications on X-ray multi-energy curved surface imaging[J]. PhotoniX. doi: 10.1186/s43074-025-00179-2

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In-situ grown polymer-ceramic scintillator and applications on X-ray multi-energy curved surface imaging

doi: 10.1186/s43074-025-00179-2

Hongyu Lv^{1, 2},
Chen Huo^{1, 2},
Kenan Zhang²,
Qun Hao¹,
Menglu Chen^{1, 2, 3}

1.
School of Optics and Photonics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China
2.
Zhejiang Key Laboratory of 3D Micro/Nano Fabrication and Characterization, Westlake Institute for Optoelectronics, Zhejiang, 311421, China
3.
National Key Laboratory of Infrared Detection Technologies, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200083, China

Funds: M.C. appreciated the facilities supported by Zhejiang Key Laboratory of 3D Micro/Nano Fabrication and Characterization, Westlake Institute for Optoelectronics.

Received Date: 2025-05-08
Accepted Date: 2025-07-15
Rev Recd Date: 2025-06-19

Available Online: 2025-08-12

Abstract

Abstract

In-situ grown scintillators have attracted extensive attention in the field of high-resolution X-ray imaging due to their excellent film uniformity. In the process of in-situ growth, reasonable selection of polymer host is vital, which can effectively inhibit nanocrystal agglomeration and Ostwald ripening. Still, rationality and effective basis for polymer selection is lacked. Here, we propose a general in-situ growth method on a variety of perovskite with prototypical polymers. Both theoretical calculations and experimental results show that the performance of the in-situ grown film is improved by the electron-donating ability of the Lewis base functional group and the strength of the chemical bond in the polymer. Moreover, vitamins doping further reduce grain boundaries and adequately passivating the surface defects. Cs₃Cu₂I₅ perovskite with polyvinyl alcohol host film exhibit yield of 55521 photons/MeV, spatial resolution of 14.0 lp mm⁻¹ and long-term stability. Due to scintillator mechanical deformability, curved X-ray imaging has been achieved, overcoming planar sensor limitations in complex geometric applications. Benefiting from the universal applicability of this growth method, we synthesize a series of scintillators exhibiting distinct X-ray energy-dependent response. Through strategic architectural design of scintillator hetero-stacking, we achieve four-channel multispectral X-ray imaging across the 10 keV to 60 keV energy range.
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