Temperature-Inert Terbium Cluster Scintillator

Abstract

X-ray scintillators play a critical role in medical diagnostics and industrial applications by converting ionizing radiation into low-energy photons. Among various scintillators, metal clusters are promising due to advantages such as atom-precise structures, high heavy-atom density, strong luminescence intensity, and low usage cost. Those exhibiting temperature-inert radioluminescence properties show broad application potential in extreme environments and have attracted considerable attention. In this work, a comprehensive strategy incorporating triplet exciton recycling and fluoride-bridge-induced carrier traps was introduced in the design of a temperature-inert cluster scintillator (Tb₁₆). The introduction of rare earth elements facilitated high-efficiency triplet exciton recycling during the radioluminescence process, endowing Tb₁₆ with a high light yield of 41380 ± 950 photons MeV⁻¹. Meanwhile, the presence of fluoride-bridges in Tb₁₆ induced abundant carrier traps, and the charge carriers captured by these traps could be thermally released back to the excited state at high temperatures, effectively compensating for emission loss. As a result, the radioluminescence intensity of Tb₁₆ remains nearly unchanged over a temperature range from 300 to 540 K, demonstrating its strong application potential in variable-temperature X-ray imaging.

Keywords

metal cluster / radioluminescence / temperature-inert / X-ray scintillator

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RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2025 The Author(s). Aggregate published by SCUT, AIEI, and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.