Dimethylamine Copper(I) Halide Single Crystals: Structure, Physical Properties, and Scintillation Performance
Zhenzhong Wang, Yiping Du, Chao Wang, Lin Ma, Chen Li, Taifeng Lin, Jiawen Xiao, Zhengguang Yan
Abstract
Hybrid copper(I) halides have garnered a significant amount of attention as potential substitutes in luminescence and scintillation applications. Herein, we report the discovery and crystal growth of new zero-dimensional compounds, (C 2 H 8 N) 3 Cu 2 I 5 and (C 2 H 8 N) 4 Cu 2 Br 6 . The bromide and iodide have a triclinic structure with space group P 1̅ and an orthorhombic structure with space group Pnma, respectively. (C 2 H 8 N) 3 Cu 2 I 5 exhibits cyan emission peaking at 504 nm with a photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 34.79%, while (C 2 H 8 N) 4 Cu 2 Br 6 shows yellowish-green emission peaking at 537 nm with a PLQY of 38.45%. The temperature-dependent photoluminescence data of both compounds were fitted to theoretical models, revealing that nonradiative intermediate states significantly affect thermal quenching and antiquenching. Electron–phonon interactions, the origin of emission line width broadening and peak shifting, were also investigated via fittings. The scintillation properties of (C 2 H 8 N) 3 Cu 2 I 5 were evaluated, and an X-ray imaging device was successfully fabricated using (C 2 H 8 N) 3 Cu 2 I 5 . This work demonstrates the potentiality of copper halides in lighting and X-ray imaging applications.