Electron Cascade‐Triggered Synergy in Organic–Inorganic Composite Film for High‐Performance X‐Ray Imaging

ABSTRACT Organic scintillators offer compelling advantages, including easy production, flexibility, and high quantum yield, yet the low atomic number intrinsically limits X‐ray absorbance, compromising radioluminescence intensity and detection sensitivity. To address this challenge, a composite scintillator is devised by integrating high‐Z LiLuF 4 :Tb nanocrystals with 9,10‐diphenylanthracene (DPA) in a polystyrene matrix. This architecture yields a ninefold enhancement of DPA radioluminescence intensity, and make it retains the original ultrafast decay dynamics, which exceed the performance of current state‐of‐the‐art thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) and hot‐exciton scintillators to a certain extent. The optimized composite film exhibits a remarkable light yield of 40 466 photons/MeV and an ultralow detection limit of 43.7 nGy air /s, outperforming commercial inorganic benchmarks (BGO and LYSO:Ce). Furthermore, it enables high‐resolution X‐ray imaging with a spatial resolution exceeding 26 lp/mm. Mechanistic investigations reveal an electron cascade triggered by escaped fast electrons from the LiLuF 4 :Tb nanocrystals, which synergistically amplifies the excitation of DPA molecules. It is worth noting that this strategy is applicable to diverse organic scintillators, such as anthracene, tetraarylethene, and TPE‐4Br, as evidenced by a significant boost in their radioluminescence intensity. This work thus elucidates nanoscale energy conversion pathways of escaped electrons and establishes a transformative platform for high‐sensitivity, low‐dose radiation detection and imaging.

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Publication Details

Journal
Laser & Photonics Review
Published
2026-05-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/lpor.71281
Primary Topic
Luminescence and Fluorescent Materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Electron Cascade‐Triggered Synergy in Organic–Inorganic Composite Film for High‐Performance X‐Ray Imaging

Y Zhang, Jun Zeng, Huilin Liu, Taiguang Jin et al.
Laser & Photonics Review
Luminescence and Fluorescent Materials
article

Electron Cascade‐Triggered Synergy in Organic–Inorganic Composite Film for High‐Performance X‐Ray Imaging

Y Zhang, Jun Zeng, Huilin Liu, Taiguang Jin, Kolesnikov Aleksei Viktorovich, Shuwei Hao, Andi Sun, Yunfei Shang, Chunhui Yang
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Organic scintillators offer compelling advantages, including easy production, flexibility, and high quantum yield, yet the low atomic number intrinsically limits X‐ray absorbance, compromising radioluminescence intensity and detection sensitivity. To address this challenge, a composite scintillator is devised by integrating high‐Z LiLuF 4 :Tb nanocrystals with 9,10‐diphenylanthracene (DPA) in a polystyrene matrix. This architecture yields a ninefold enhancement of DPA radioluminescence intensity, and make it retains the original ultrafast decay dynamics, which exceed the performance of current state‐of‐the‐art thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) and hot‐exciton scintillators to a certain extent. The optimized composite film exhibits a remarkable light yield of 40 466 photons/MeV and an ultralow detection limit of 43.7 nGy air /s, outperforming commercial inorganic benchmarks (BGO and LYSO:Ce). Furthermore, it enables high‐resolution X‐ray imaging with a spatial resolution exceeding 26 lp/mm. Mechanistic investigations reveal an electron cascade triggered by escaped fast electrons from the LiLuF 4 :Tb nanocrystals, which synergistically amplifies the excitation of DPA molecules. It is worth noting that this strategy is applicable to diverse organic scintillators, such as anthracene, tetraarylethene, and TPE‐4Br, as evidenced by a significant boost in their radioluminescence intensity. This work thus elucidates nanoscale energy conversion pathways of escaped electrons and establishes a transformative platform for high‐sensitivity, low‐dose radiation detection and imaging.

Laser & Photonics Review
Harbin Institute of Technology (CN), University of Jinan (CN), Institute of Semiconductor Physics (RU)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Luminescence and Fluorescent Materials
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