Room Temperature g-Ray and X-Ray Detection with Halide Perovskites

There is a growing demand for highly sensitive hard radiation detectors that can operate at room temperature, catering to various applications. Among the potential materials, CsPbBr3, a perovskite semiconductor, shows promise due to its excellent spectral resolution for gamma-rays at room temperature. Moreover, CsPbBr3 possesses air-stability, non-hygroscopicity, and a high average effective atomic number of 65.9. Recent research has made notable progress in studying bulk CsPbBr3 crystals and fabricating and characterizing single crystals specifically for detector applications. The Bridgman method has successfully produced exceptionally pure CsPbBr3 single crystals of superior quality. An outstanding characteristic of CsPbBr3 is its enhanced tolerance for defects compared to other semiconductors, enabling efficient carrier transport and high-performance detectors. CsPbBr3 detectors have exhibited remarkable energy resolution for both X-rays and gamma-rays. For instance, a CsPbBr3 detector achieved a 4% (4.8 keV, FWHM) energy resolution for a 122 keV 57Co gamma-ray. Furthermore, in detector-grade single crystals of CsPbBr3, the hole carrier lifetime surpassed 900 μs, emphasizing its suitability for detector applications. Additionally, pixelated devices based on CsPbBr3 have demonstrated the potential to resolve 137Cs 662-keV gamma-rays with approximately 1% energy resolution. The effectiveness of CsPbBr3 detectors has been further demonstrated through high-dose irradiation exposures and synchrotron X-ray detection experiments, with a flux ranging from 10^6 to 10^12 photons/s/mm2 at 58.61 keV. These results strongly indicate that CsPbBr3, a perovskite material, is promising for developing high-performance radiation detectors across various applications.