Ultrasensitive 3D Aerosol-Jet-Printed Perovskite X-Ray Photodetector

TL;DR

This paper presents a highly sensitive 3D aerosol-jet-printed perovskite X-ray photodetector with record sensitivity, promising for safer medical imaging by detecting low-dose X-rays effectively.

Contribution

It introduces a novel 3D aerosol jet printing method for perovskite X-ray detectors, achieving record sensitivity and low detection limits, advancing integration into microelectronics.

Findings

Record sensitivity of 2.2 x 10^8 μC Gyair^-1cm^-2 for 8 keV photons

Detection limit of 0.12 Gy/s at low dose-rates

Four-fold improvement over existing devices

Abstract

X-ray photon detection is important for a wide range of applications. The highest demand, however, comes from medical imaging, which requires cost-effective, high-resolution detectors operating at low photon flux, therefore stimulating the search for novel materials and new approaches. Recently, hybrid halide perovskite CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPbI3) has attracted considerable attention due to its advantageous optoelectronic properties and low fabrication costs. The presence of heavy atoms, providing a high scattering cross-section for photons, makes this material a perfect candidate for X-ray detection. Despite the already-successful demonstrations of efficiency in detection, its integration into standard microelectronics fabrication processes is still pending. Here, we demonstrate a promising method for building X-ray detector units by 3D aerosol jet printing with a record sensitivity of 2.2 x 108 {\mu}C Gyair-1cm-2 when detecting 8 keV photons at dose-rates below 1 Gy/s (detection limit 0.12 Gy/s), a four-fold improvement on the best-in-class devices. An introduction of MAPbI3-based detection into medical imaging would significantly reduce health hazards related to the strongly ionizing X-rays photons.