Large-Area Laminar TEA2MnI4 Single-Crystal Scintillator for X-ray Imaging with Impressive High Resolution

Current X-ray imaging scintillators are dominated by inorganic scintillators grown through a high-temperature process. Exploring new types of scintillators with mild growth conditions, high light yields, and eco-friendly chemical compositions is essential and challenging. Herein, the zero-dimensional large-area laminar organic-inorganic hybrid metal halide TEA2MnI4 (TEA = tetraethylammonium) single crystal with dimensions of 50 mm x 60 mm x 0.82 mm is grown via a local-heating solvent evaporation method. Compared with its Cl-and Br-based counterparts, the incorporation of the iodine component enhances the X-ray attenuation ability and significantly accelerates the decay of the photoluminescence of TEA2MnI4. Interestingly, the prepared TEA2MnI4 exhibits a high transmittance of >90% over the range of 515-765 nm and exhibits a high light yield of 26288 photons/MeV, which provides the prerequisite for high-resolution X-ray imaging. The TEA2MnI4 single-crystal scintillator displays an astonishing spatial resolution exceeding 25 line pairs per millimeter, which provides a design concept for a Mn-I-based single crystal for high-performance scintillator applications.

Automated summary

A single crystal scintillator, TEA2MnI4, with high transmittance and light yield has been successfully prepared using a local-heating solvent evaporation method. It shows potential for high-resolution X-ray imaging.