Lanthanide-Metal-Doped Light-Harvesting Quantum Dots for Exceptional X-ray Imaging Scintillators
Xin Zhu, Renqian Zhou, Zhi Wang, Simil Thomas, Partha Maity, Luis Gutiérrez‐Arzaluz, Wentao Wu, Tulai Sun, Tian Jin, Haiting Cai, Jianxin Wang, Husam N. Alshareef, Osman M. Bakr, Yihan Zhu, Omar F. Mohammed
Abstract
The energy donor’s superlative antenna effect efficiently improves the performance of the reaction centers of light-harvesting systems. Consequently, we successfully leveraged this exceptional capability to develop high-performance X-ray imaging scintillator screens. Electron microscopy imaging with atomic-level resolution and theoretical calculations have revealed that within lanthanide-ion-doped CaMoO 4 (Ln 3+ –CaMoO 4, Ln = Eu or Tb) quantum dots (QDs), Ln 3+ is uniformly distributed throughout the CaMoO 4 lattice. The synergy between Ln 3+ and CaMoO 4 QDs amplifies the X-ray photon absorption capacities and enables efficient energy transfer from the CaMoO 4 QD antenna to the Ln 3+ emission center, significantly enhancing the X-ray sensitivity and imaging resolution of QD screens. To illustrate, the CaMoO 4:(Eu 3+ ) 0.20 QD screens exhibit an impressive X-ray imaging resolution, exceeding 23 lp/mm, outperforming most recognized organic and conventional inorganic scintillators. These findings can position doped QDs as promising scintillators for X-ray imaging with potential application in medical radiology and security screening.