Exploration of Copper Halide Linear-Array Detector Prototype for Security Checks

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Solid-State Physics
• Radiological Physics

Background:

• Metal halides offer tunable structures and photophysical properties for advanced X-ray scintillators.
• Commercial viability of reported metal halide scintillators requires further validation.
• All-inorganic low-dimensional copper halide Cs3Cu2I5 exhibits efficient, self-absorption-free emission due to self-trapped excitons.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance the scintillation performance of Cs3Cu2I5 through Mn2+ incorporation.
• To evaluate the potential of modified copper halide scintillators for X-ray detection and imaging applications.

Main Methods:

• Compositional modification of Cs3Cu2I5 via Mn2+ doping.
• Characterization of scintillation properties including light output, detection limit, afterglow, and decay time.
• Detector-level performance assessment and spatial resolution measurement in a linear-array detector.

Main Results:

• Optimized Mn2+-doped Cs3Cu2I5 achieved 1.35 times the light output of CsI:Tl and a detection limit of 33.1 nGy s-1.
• The scintillator demonstrated negligible afterglow and a fast X-ray excitation decay time of 46.4 µs.
• Detector-level tests showed ~18% higher light output than a commercial scintillator (Carestream Min-R 2190), with 1.1 lp/mm spatial resolution.

Conclusions:

• Mn2+ doping significantly improves the scintillation performance of Cs3Cu2I5.
• This copper halide scintillator shows exceptional light output, fast response, and good spatial resolution.
• Powder-based copper halide scintillators are promising for enhanced security inspection and other X-ray imaging applications.