Computational simulation tools for quantum-dot-based ionizing-radiation detectors: an integrative review (2018–2026)

ABSTRACT Quantum dots (QDs) have been explored as active elements of scintillators, dosimeters and detectors for X-ray and gamma-ray ionizing radiation. This integrative review catalogued the computational simulation tools used in QD-detector studies published between 2018 and 2026, reporting the empirical evidence of use for each tool and the limitations declared by the original authors. Following Whittemore and Knafl's method combined with PRISMA-ScR reporting elements, five databases were queried (Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, IEEE Xplore, and Google Scholar via Publish or Perish). The search yielded 4,530 unique records after de-duplication, from which 35 studies were extracted through a structured form (30 fields): 34 published within the window plus one pre-window historical reference. The inventory distinguished two complementary classes: (A) twenty-four codes that model the QD itself (Table 5A), spanning ab initio , tight-binding, quantum transport and open-quantum-systems methods; and (B) fourteen Monte Carlo radiation-transport codes (Table 5B), namely Geant4, GATE 10, TOPAS, EGSnrc, PENELOPE, CASINO, FLUKA, MCNP/MCNPX, PHITS, TOPAS-nBio, Geant4-DNA, SSLG4, Chroma and optiGAN. Across the 35 studies, Geant4 was the most frequently declared radiation-transport engine (six studies). In the broader QD-modelling literature, VASP, Quantum ESPRESSO and DFTB+ concentrated the atomistic parametrisation of II–VI and perovskite QDs. Each study declared between one and three tools, and explicit integration between radiation-transport engines and QD electronic-structure codes remained uncommon in the analysed literature. The consolidated inventory was intended as a reference for the QD-detector research community.