On the use of CdSe scintillating nanoplatelets as time taggers for high-energy gamma detection

• DOI: 10.1038/s41699-019-0120-8
• Publication Date: 2019-10-04T10:02:49Z
• Authors: R. M. Turtos; S. Gundacker; S. Omelkov; B. Mahler; A. H. Khan; J. Saaring; Z. Meng; A. Vasil’ev; C. Dujardin; M. Kirm; I. Moreels; E. Auffray; P. Lecoq
• Keywords: DYNAMICS; RISE; PERFORMANCE; 01 natural sciences; Chemistry; Physics and Astronomy; RESOLUTION; LUMINESCENCE; 0103 physical sciences; X-RAY; [PHYS.COND.CM-MS]Physics [physics]/Condensed Matter [cond-mat]/Materials Science [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]; PHOTOLUMINESCENCE; [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-INS-DET]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Instrumentation and Detectors [physics.ins-det]

AbstractThe technological challenge imposed by the time resolution essential to achieve real-time molecular imaging calls for a new generation of ultrafast detectors. In this contribution, we demonstrate that CdSe-based semiconductor nanoplatelets can be combined with standard scintillator technology to achieve 80 ps coincidence time resolution on a hybrid functional pixel. This result contrasts with the fact that the overall detector light output is considerably affected by the loss of index-light-guiding. Here, we exploit the principle of 511 keV energy sharing between a high-Z, high stopping power bulk scintillator, and a nano-scintillator with sub-1 ns radiative recombination times, aiming at a breakthrough in the combined energy and time resolution performance. This proof-of-concept test opens the way to the design and study of larger size sensors using thin nanocomposite layers able to perform as efficient time taggers in a sampling detector geometry of new generation.