Cold-Sintered All-Inorganic Perovskite Bulk Composite Scintillators for Efficient X-ray Imaging

Cost-effective bulk scintillators with high density, large-area, and long-term stability are desirable for high-energy radiation detections. Conventional bulk polycrystalline or single-crystal scintillators are generally synthesized by high-temperature approaches, and it is challenging to realize simultaneously high detectivity/responsivity, spatial resolution, and rapid time response. Here, we report the cold sintering of bulk scintillators (at 90 °C) based on an "emitter-in-matrix" principle, in which emissive CsPbBr3 nanocrystals are embedded in a durable and transparent Cs4PbBr6 matrix. These bulk scintillators exhibit high light yield (33,800 photons MeV–1), low detection limit (79 nGyair s–1), fast decay time (9.8 ns), and outstanding spatial resolution of 8.9 lp mm–1 to X-ray radiation and an energy resolution of 19.3% for γ-ray (59.6 keV) detection. The composite scintillator also shows exceptional stability against environmental degradation and cyclic X-ray radiation. Our results demonstrate a cost-effective strategy for developing perovskite-based bulk transparent scintillators with exceptional performance and high radioluminescence stability for high-energy radiation detection and imaging.