Rheological engineering of perovskite suspension toward high-resolution X-ray flat-panel detector

Solution-processed polycrystalline perovskite film is promising for the next generation X-ray imaging. However, the spatial resolution of current perovskite X-ray panel detectors is far lower than the theoretical limit. Herein we find that the pixel level non-uniformity, also known as fixed pattern noise, is the chief culprit affecting the signal-to-noise ratio and reducing the resolution of perovskite detectors. We report a synergistic strategy of rheological engineering the perovskite suspensions to achieve X-ray flat panel detectors with pixel-level high uniformity and near-to-limit spatial resolution. Our approach includes the addition of methylammonium iodide and polyacrylonitrile to the perovskite suspension, to synergistically enhance the flowability and particle stability of the oversaturated solution. The obtained suspension perfectly suits for the blade-coating process, avoiding the uneven distribution of solutes and particles within perovskite films. The assembled perovskite panel detector exhibits greatly improved fixed pattern noise value (1.39%), high sensitivity (2.24 x 104 mu C Gyair-1 cm-2), low detection limit (28.57 nGyair center dot s-1) as well as good working stability, close to the performance of single crystal detectors. Moreover, the detector achieves a near-to-limit resolution of 0.51 lp/pix. The film uniformity is essential to the fixed pattern noise (FPN) and resolution of X-ray detectors. Here the authors demonstrate the rheological engineering of the perovskite suspension to achieve low FPN of 1.39% and high resolution of 0.51 lp/pix.

Automated summary

This study investigates the application of solution-processed polycrystalline perovskite film in X-ray imaging and identifies pixel-level non-uniformity as the main factor affecting sensor signal-to-noise ratio and resolution. The authors achieve high uniformity and near-limit resolution by rheological engineering of the perovskite suspension.