Novel perovskite materials for a new generation of medical detectors at low temperature

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At lower cryogenic temperatures, perovskite crystals show excellent scintillation properties in terms of signal output and quick response time. Such materials have been sought after for many decades and could dramatically impact the entire scintillation field. Importantly, the concept of cryogenic scintillation is underexplored and novel because established scintillators do not exhibit dramatically improved performance with decreased temperature. Perovskites, however, do and prove to be among the best scintillation materials measured to date. Remarkably, our work uses yet unoptimized crystals and thus it is possible that further improvements will be achieved over time. Operation at lower temperatures is already common for medical applications. Therefore, this work has the potential to trigger a new generation of cryogenic scintillators, as well as providing a new direction for the perovskite field. In particular, perovskites are promising for the medical sector because of the potential for improved cancer diagnostics through an increased imaging resolution, e.g. for early-stage brain cancer.

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