Toward Perovskite-Related Scintillators with Necessary Stokes Shift and Thickness for Hard X-Ray Radiography and Gamma Spectroscopy

The materials broadly grouped as lead-halide perovskites including inorganic or organic species at the A-site or interlayer, some metals other than Pb at the B-site, and dimensionality of arrangement and spacing of the BX6 octahedra are now famously versatile and highly investigated for a variety of applications. Different versions are semiconductors with novel properties, insulators with novel properties, and highly efficient light emitters in nanocrystals or thin films at least. For detectors of ionizing radiation, they seem attractive for both semiconducting direct and scintillating indirect imaging of x-rays and maybe spectroscopy of gamma rays. This chapter explores the route to useful scintillation, focusing on Stokes shift or near-absence thereof, and the problem of getting scintillating light out from thick elements, as well as examining the dual functionality of a perovskite as either an activator (light emitter) or host (energy absorber/transporter).