Search Results

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Item

X-ray imaging with scintillator-sensitized hybrid organic photodetectors

2015, Büchele, Patric, Richter, Moses, Tedde, Sandro F., Matt, Gebhard J., Ankah, Genesis N., Fischer, Rene, Biele, Markus, Metzger, Wilhelm, Lilliu, Samuele, Bikondoa, Oier, Macdonald, J. Emyr, Brabec, Christoph J., Kraus, Tobias, Lemmer, Uli, Schmidt, Oliver

Medical X-ray imaging requires cost-effective and high-resolution flat-panel detectors for the energy range between 20 and 120 keV. Solution-processed photodetectors provide the opportunity to fabricate detectors with a large active area at low cost. Here, we present a disruptive approach that improves the resolution of such detectors by incorporating terbium-doped gadolinium oxysulfide scintillator particles into an organic photodetector matrix. The X-ray induced light emission from the scintillators is absorbed within hundreds of nanometres, which is negligible compared with the pixel size. Hence, optical crosstalk, a limiting factor in the resolution of scintillator-based X-ray detectors, is minimized. The concept is validated with a 256 × 256 pixel detector with a resolution of 4.75 lp mm−1 at a MTF = 0.2, significantly better than previous stacked scintillator-based flat-panel detectors. We achieved a resolution that proves the feasibility of solution-based detectors in medical applications. Time-resolved electrical characterization showed enhanced charge carrier mobility with increased scintillator filling, which is explained by morphological changes.