Halide lead perovskites for ionizing radiation detection

Abstract

Halide lead perovskites have attracted increasing attention in recent years for ionizing radiation detection due to their strong stopping power, defect-tolerance, large mobility-lifetime (μτ) product, tunable bandgap and simple single crystal growth from low-cost solution processes. In this review, we start with the requirement of material properties for high performance ionizing radiation detection based on direct detection mechanisms for applications in X-ray imaging and γ-ray energy spectroscopy. By comparing the performances of halide perovskites radiation detectors with current state-of-the-art ionizing radiation detectors, we show the promising features and challenges of halide perovskites as promising radiation detectors.

Fig. 1

Electronic properties of halide perovskites. a Linear attenuation coefficient of MAPbI₃, MAPbBr₃, CdTe, Se, and TlBr versus photons energy. b Trap density of states of the MAPbI₃ single crystal (red dots) and the thin film (black dots) measured by thermal admittance spectroscopy at room temperature. c External quantum efficiency (EQE) and internal quantum efficiency (IQE) spectra of a 3-mm-thick MAPbI₃ single crystal along with the transmittance of 25-nm-thick gold electrode. d The µτ product of MAPbBr₃ crystal devices with different raw materials feeding ratio and surface passivation procedure. The transition energy levels of e intrinsic acceptors and f intrinsic donors in CH₃NH₃PbI₃ perovskite. b, c are adapted with permission from ref. , AAAS. d is adapted with permission from ref. , Springer Nature. e, f are adapted with permission from ref. , American Institute of Physics

Fig. 2

Perovskite single crystals growth. a Solubility of MAPbI₃ perovskite versus temperature in HI acid. b Photos of as-grown single crystal by top-seeded solution growth method. c Reverse solubility of MAPbI₃ perovskite versus temperature in γ-butyrolactone (GBL). d Photos of as-grown halide perovskite single crystal by inverse temperature method. a is adapted with permission from ref. , RSC Publishing. b is adapted with permission from ref. , AAAS. c is adapted with permission from ref. , American Institute of Physics. d is adapted with permission from ref. , Springer Nature

Fig. 3

X-ray imaging by single pixel, linear arrays, and two-dimensional (2D) arrays scanning. a–c Scheme of three different X-ray imaging processes: a single pixel scanning, b linear detector array (LDA) scanning, c 2D detector arrays scanning. d Optical and X-ray images of a plastic toy and an electronic key card. e Optical and X-ray images of an encapsulated metallic spring as well as a portion of a fish caudal fin (top, right) and X-ray image of a section of it (bottom, right). f A hand phantom X-ray image obtained from a muon piston calorimeter (MPC) detector (using 100kVp and 5mGy_air s⁻¹ for 5 ms exposure, resulting in a dose of 25μGy_air and a bias voltage of 50 V). Scale bars in d are 10 mm and the ones in e are 5 mm. d (ref. ), e (ref. ), and f (ref. ) are all adapted with permission from Springer Nature

Fig. 4

γ-Ray spectrum detection by halide perovskites. a The bias dependence of the photocurrent generated by Cu Kα X-ray in a MAPbI₃ single crystal (SC); the red line indicates a fit with the Hecht model. Top inset: Photograph of typical MAPbI₃ perovskite SCs grown from a non-aqueous method. Bottom inset: Schematic of the three-dimensional interconnection of PbI₆ octahedra in a perovskite lattice (green, Pb; yellow, I; blue, MA). b Energy-resolved spectrum of ²⁴¹Am recorded with a FAPbI₃ SC. c Side view of a CH₃NH₃PbBr_2.94Cl_0.06 SC detector, and electrode sides were encapsulated with epoxy. d Enlarged photopeak region of the ¹³⁷Cs energy spectrum obtained by CH₃NH₃PbBr_2.94Cl_0.06 and CH₃NH₃PbBr₃ SC detectors. e As-grown CsPbBr₃ SC ingot with a diameter of 11 mm, and the SC wafers with different sizes. f Energy-resolved spectrum of ¹³⁷Cs γ-ray source with the characteristic energy of 662 keV obtained by a CsPbBr₃ detector. a, b (ref. ), c, d (ref. ), and e, f (ref. ) are all adapted with permission from Springer Nature