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Singh P, Dosovitskiy G, Bekenstein Y. Bright Innovations: Review of Next-Generation Advances in Scintillator Engineering. ACS NANO 2024; 18:14029-14049. [PMID: 38781034 PMCID: PMC11155248 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c12381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2023] [Revised: 04/28/2024] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
This review focuses on modern scintillators, the heart of ionizing radiation detection with applications in medical diagnostics, homeland security, research, and other areas. The conventional method to improve their characteristics, such as light output and timing properties, consists of improving in material composition and doping, etc., which are intrinsic to the material. On the contrary, we review recent advancements in cutting-edge approaches to shape scintillator characteristics via photonic and metamaterial engineering, which are extrinsic and introduce controlled inhomogeneity in the scintillator's surface or volume. The methods to be discussed include improved light out-coupling using photonic crystal (PhC) coating, dielectric architecture modification producing the Purcell effect, and meta-materials engineering based on energy sharing. These approaches help to break traditional bulk scintillators' limitations, e.g., to deal with poor light extraction efficiency from the material due to a typically large refractive index mismatch or improve timing performance compared to bulk materials. In the Outlook section, modern physical phenomena are discussed and suggested as the basis for the next generations of scintillation-based detectors and technology, followed by a brief discussion on cost-effective fabrication techniques that could be scalable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pallavi Singh
- Solid
State Institute, Technion-Israel Institute
of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Georgy Dosovitskiy
- Solid
State Institute, Technion-Israel Institute
of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Yehonadav Bekenstein
- Solid
State Institute, Technion-Israel Institute
of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
- Department
of Materials Science and Engineering, Technion-Israel
Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
- The
Nancy and Stephen Grand Technion Energy Program, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, 32000 Haifa, Israel
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2
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Sun Y, Fu S, Sun S, Cui J, Luo Z, Lei Z, Hou Y. Design of a SnO 2/Zeolite Gas Sensor to Enhance Formaldehyde Sensing Properties: From the Strategy of the Band Gap-Tunable Zeolite. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2023; 15:53714-53724. [PMID: 37935591 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c12789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2023]
Abstract
ZSM-5 zeolite is usually used in gas sensors as an auxiliary material to improve the gas-sensitive properties of other semiconductor materials, such as its molecular sieve properties and surface adsorption properties. Here, the gas-sensitive mechanism analysis of SnO2/zeolite gas sensors is studied for the first time based on the perspective of zeolite as a band gap-tunable semiconductor that was reported recently. The gas-sensing mechanism of the zeolite/semiconductor has been modeled based on the surface charge theory, and the work function of the ZSM-5 zeolite has been revealed for the first time. A heterostructure of Ag and ZSM-5 was designed and compounded to tune the band gap of the ZSM-5 zeolite by the ammonia pool effect method. The band gap width of the zeolite decreases from 4.51 to 3.61 eV. A series of characterization techniques were used to analyze the distribution and morphology of silver nanoparticles in zeolites and the variation of the ZSM-5 band gap. Then, SnO2/Ag@ZSM-5 sensors were fabricated, and the gas-sensing performances were measured. The gas-sensing results show that the SnO2/Ag@ZSM-5 sensor has an improved response to formaldehyde in particular compared to the SnO2 sensor. The response value of the SnO2/Ag@ZSM-5 sensor to 70 ppm formaldehyde reached 29.4, which is a 528% improvement compared to the SnO2 sensor. Additionally, the selectivity was greatly enhanced. This study provides a strategy for designing and developing higher-performance gas sensors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanhui Sun
- College of Information and Communication Engineering, Dalian Minzu University, Dalian 116600, China
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
| | - Shouhang Fu
- College of Information and Communication Engineering, Dalian Minzu University, Dalian 116600, China
| | - Shupeng Sun
- School of Microelectronics, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
| | - Jiawen Cui
- College of Information and Communication Engineering, Dalian Minzu University, Dalian 116600, China
| | - Zhixin Luo
- College of Information and Communication Engineering, Dalian Minzu University, Dalian 116600, China
| | - Zefeng Lei
- College of Information and Communication Engineering, Dalian Minzu University, Dalian 116600, China
| | - Yue Hou
- KEDE Numerical Control Co., Ltd, Dalian 116100, China
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Luo C, Jing Y, Hua Z, Sui Z, Wang C, Hu P, Zheng L, Qian S, Yang L, Sun X, Tang G, Cai H, Zhu Y, Ban H, Han J, Wang Z, Qiao X, Ren J, Zhang J. Band Gap and Defect Engineering Enhanced Scintillation from Ce 3+-Doped Nanoglass Containing Mixed-Type Fluoride Nanocrystals. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2023; 15:46226-46235. [PMID: 37738374 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c09230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/24/2023]
Abstract
Much can be learned from the research and development of scintillator crystals for improving the scintillation performance of glasses. Relying on the concept of "embedding crystalline order in glass", we have demonstrated that the scintillation properties of Ce3+-doped nanoglass composites (nano-GCs) can be optimized via the synergistic effects of Gd3+-sublattice sensitization and band-gap engineering. The nano-GCs host a large volume fraction of KYxGd1-xF4 mixed-type fluoride nanocrystals (NCs) and still retain reasonably good transparency at Ce3+-emitting wavelengths. The light yield of 3455 ± 20 ph/MeV is found, which is the largest value ever reported in fluoride NC-embedded nano-GCs. A comprehensive study is given on the highly selective doping of Ce3+ in the NCs and its positive effect on the scintillation properties. The favorable influence of the Y3+/Gd3+ mixing on the suppression of defects is accounted for by density functional theory and borne out experimentally. As a proof-of-concept, X-ray imaging with a good spatial resolution (7.9 lp/mm) is demonstrated by employing Ce3+-doped nano-GCs. The superior radiation hardness, repeatability, and thermal stability of the designed scintillators bode well for their long-term practical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chengxi Luo
- Key Laboratory of In-fiber Integrated Optics, Ministry Education of China, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
- Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Yue Jing
- Key Laboratory of In-fiber Integrated Optics, Ministry Education of China, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
| | - Zhehao Hua
- Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Zexuan Sui
- Key Laboratory of In-fiber Integrated Optics, Ministry Education of China, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
- Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Ci Wang
- Key Laboratory of In-fiber Integrated Optics, Ministry Education of China, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
| | - Peng Hu
- Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Lirong Zheng
- Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Sen Qian
- Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Luyun Yang
- Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Xinyuan Sun
- Department of Physics, Jinggangshan University, Ji'an 343009, China
| | - Gao Tang
- College of Materials and Chemistry, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, China
| | - Hua Cai
- China Building Materials Academy, Beijing 100024, China
| | - Yao Zhu
- Key Laboratory of In-fiber Integrated Optics, Ministry Education of China, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
| | - Huiyun Ban
- Beijing Glass Research Institute, Beijing 101111, China
| | - Jifeng Han
- Key Laboratory of Radiation Physics and Technology of the Ministry of Education, Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Zhile Wang
- Department of Electronic Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
| | - Xvsheng Qiao
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 China
| | - Jing Ren
- Key Laboratory of In-fiber Integrated Optics, Ministry Education of China, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
| | - Jianzhong Zhang
- Key Laboratory of In-fiber Integrated Optics, Ministry Education of China, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
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First-principles studies of defect behaviour in bismuth germanate. Sci Rep 2022; 12:15728. [PMID: 36130973 PMCID: PMC9492720 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-18586-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 08/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Intrinsic defects are known to greatly affect the structural and electronic properties of scintillators thereby impacting performance when these materials are in operation. In order to overcome this effect, an understanding of the defect process is required for the design of more stable materials. Here we employed density functional theory calculations and the PBE0 hybrid functional to study the structural, electronic,defect process and optical properties of [Formula: see text] (BGO), a well know material used as scintillator. We examined possible intrinsic defects and calculated their formation energy and their impact on the properties that affect the scintillation process. Furthermore, we investigated the effect and role of rare earth element (REE = Nd, Pr, Ce and Tm) doping on the properties of the BGO system. While the PBE functional underestimated the band gap, the PBE0 was found to adequately describe the electronic properties of the system. Out of all the defects types considered, it was found that [Formula: see text] antisite is the most favourable defect. Analysis of the effect of this defect on the electronic properties of BGO revealed an opening of ingap states within the valence band. This observation suggests that the [Formula: see text] could be a charge trapping defect in BGO. We found that the calculated dopant substitution formation energy increases with increase in the size of the dopant and it turns out that the formation of O vacancy is easier in doped systems irrespective of the size of the dopant. We analyzed the optical spectra and noted variations in different regions of the photon energy spectra.
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Zhydachevskyy Y, Hizhnyi Y, Nedilko SG, Kudryavtseva I, Pankratov V, Stasiv V, Vasylechko L, Sugak D, Lushchik A, Berkowski M, Suchocki A, Klyui N. Band Gap Engineering and Trap Depths of Intrinsic Point Defects in RAlO 3 (R = Y, La, Gd, Yb, Lu) Perovskites. THE JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. C, NANOMATERIALS AND INTERFACES 2021; 125:26698-26710. [PMID: 34925675 PMCID: PMC8672454 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.1c06573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Revised: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
The possibility of band gap engineering (BGE) in RAlO3 (R = Y, La, Gd, Yb, Lu) perovskites in the context of trap depths of intrinsic point defects was investigated comprehensively using experimental and theoretical approaches. The optical band gap of the materials, E g, was determined via both the absorption measurements in the VUV spectral range and the spectra of recombination luminescence excitation by synchrotron radiation. The experimentally observed effect of E g reduction from ∼8.5 to ∼5.5 eV in RAlO3 perovskites with increasing R3+ ionic radius was confirmed by the DFT electronic structure calculations performed for RMIIIO3 crystals (R = Lu, Y, La; MIII = Al, Ga, In). The possibility of BGE was also proved by the analysis of thermally stimulated luminescence (TSL) measured above room temperature for the far-red emitting (Y/Gd/La)AlO3:Mn4+ phosphors, which confirmed decreasing of the trap depths in the cation sequence Y → Gd → La. Calculations of the trap depths performed within the super cell approach for a number of intrinsic point defects and their complexes allowed recognizing specific trapping centers that can be responsible for the observed TSL. In particular, the electron traps of 1.33 and 1.43 eV (in YAlO3) were considered to be formed by the energy level of oxygen vacancy (VO) with different arrangement of neighboring YAl and VY, while shallower electron traps of 0.9-1.0 eV were related to the energy level of YAl antisite complexes with neighboring VO or (VO + VY). The effect of the lowering of electron trap depths in RAlO3 was demonstrated for the VO-related level of the (YAl + VO + VY) complex defect for the particular case of La substituting Y.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaroslav Zhydachevskyy
- Institute
of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, aleja Lotników 32/46, Warsaw 02-668, Poland
- Lviv
Polytechnic National University, S. Bandera Str. 12, Lviv 79013, Ukraine
| | - Yuriy Hizhnyi
- Taras
Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Volodymyrska Str. 60, Kyiv 01033, Ukraine
| | - Sergii G. Nedilko
- Taras
Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Volodymyrska Str. 60, Kyiv 01033, Ukraine
| | - Irina Kudryavtseva
- Institute
of Physics, University of Tartu, W. Ostwald Str. 1, Tartu 50411, Estonia
| | - Vladimir Pankratov
- Institute
of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia, Kengaraga Str. 8, Riga 1063, Latvia
| | - Vasyl Stasiv
- Institute
of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, aleja Lotników 32/46, Warsaw 02-668, Poland
| | - Leonid Vasylechko
- Lviv
Polytechnic National University, S. Bandera Str. 12, Lviv 79013, Ukraine
| | - Dmytro Sugak
- Lviv
Polytechnic National University, S. Bandera Str. 12, Lviv 79013, Ukraine
| | - Aleksandr Lushchik
- Institute
of Physics, University of Tartu, W. Ostwald Str. 1, Tartu 50411, Estonia
| | - Marek Berkowski
- Institute
of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, aleja Lotników 32/46, Warsaw 02-668, Poland
| | - Andrzej Suchocki
- Institute
of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, aleja Lotników 32/46, Warsaw 02-668, Poland
| | - Nickolai Klyui
- College of
Physics, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Str., Changchun 130012, China
- V.E.
Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 41 prospekt Nauki, Kyiv 03028, Ukraine
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