Structural and Compositional Effects on the Scintillation Properties of Fast Emitting Metal-Organic Frameworks

Metal-organic framework (MOF) scintillators are promising emitters for fast timing techniques due to their high scintillation efficiency and rapid response time. These materials are composed of high-atomic-number metal-oxide cores connected by scintillating organic dyes. A quite-overlooked drawback of MOF scintillation properties is the possible presence of intrinsic structural defects and dark states that can introduce energetic disorder and also trap the energy released by the ionizing radiation. Here, we systematically investigate the luminescence properties of three different MOF architectures wherein the scintillating ligand is 9,10-diphenylanthracene and the linking nodes consist of Zr, In and Hf-oxo-hydroxy clusters. The various crystalline structures, the atomic numbers of the constituent elements, and the size of MOF crystals affect their photoluminescence and scintillation properties in distinct ways, providing guidelines to develop systems with optimized performance and tailorable timing capabilities, resulting from the synergy among the properties of the components.