Atomically precise copper cluster scintillator

As a kind of newly developed scintillator, copper cluster scintillators have garnered considerable attention due to their atomically precise structures and multiple advantages such as low toxicity, facile synthesis and outstanding X-ray excited luminescence (XEL) properties. The copper cluster scintillators have been successfully applied in various fields including low-dose radiation detection, X-ray imaging, and the monitoring of α/β particles, suggesting that they are a highly active research field. This review focuses on recent advancements in copper cluster scintillators and comprehensively summarize the luminescence mechanisms and design strategies employed to tailor the XEL of copper clusters, copper halide clusters and copper cluster-based assembly materials. This review also presents the novel applications derived from the as-obtained copper cluster scintillators, along with the underlying structure-functionality correlations.