Transparent Organic and Metal Halide Tandem Scintillators for High-Resolution Dual-Energy X-ray Imaging
Wenyi ShaoTengyue HeJianxin WangYang ZhouPeng YuanWentao WuZhenzhong ZhangOsman M. BakrHongwei LiangOmar F. Mohammed
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Abstract:
Dual-energy X-ray imaging (DEXI) is a cutting-edge technology that provides more detailed material-specific information than the traditional single-energy X-ray imaging strategy. Herein, we designed and fabricated a top-filter-bottom (TFB) sandwich structure scintillator for high-resolution DEXI within a single exposure. More specifically, the low- and high-energy X-ray photons were sequentially absorbed by the top and bottom scintillators and were efficiently converted into their corresponding emission colors. By discriminating between these different emission spectra of the transparent TFB sandwich structure scintillator, DEXI can provide not only unique X-ray energy information but also an exceptional resolution of approximately 18 lp/mm on stacked images that surpasses most of the reported single-layer organic- and metal halide-based scintillators. The conceptual demonstrations of decomposition and reconstruction in DEXI were also realized on several biological imaging objects. This breakthrough research paves the way for the development of scintillator architectures specifically designed for DEXI.Keywords:
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Abstract Pioneered by our group, thallium (Tl)‐based inorganic halide single‐crystals are potential new scintillators. Most of these scintillators exhibit excellent scintillation performance, including peak emission between 370 and 450 nm, good energy resolutions, high light yield (more than 50 000 ph MeV ‐1 ) and fast decay‐time (less than 40 ns). In addition, these scintillators demonstrate good pulse shape discrimination capability. The grown pure crystals show strong luminescence and high light yields due to the presence of Tl ion in the host lattice. Thanks to the high Z‐number and density of the Tl, the grown scintillators have high density ( ρ > 4 g cm −3 ) and high effective Z‐number ( Z eff ≥ 60). Being hygroscopic, like other halide scintillators, these single crystals are grown by the Bridgman technique. It is expected that the discovered scintillators will perform better than most commercial scintillators used in different applications. Significant improvement in the scintillation properties are achieved with the modification of the crystal growth procedure of the grown scintillators. Preliminary results revealed that these scintillators are very promising from an application point of view, while further investigations are underway for the enhancement of the present scintillators as well as for the discovery of new compounds of this family.
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