Effect of commensurate lithium doping on the scintillation of two-dimensional perovskite crystals

• Main Authors: Maddalena, Francesco, Xie, Aozhen, Arramel, Witkowski, Marcin E., Makowski, Michal, Mahler, Benoit, Drozdowski, Winicjusz, Mariyappan, Thambidurai, Springham, Stuart V., Coquet, Philippe, Dujardin, Christophe, Birowosuto, Muhammad Danang, Dang, Cuong
• Other Authors: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Science::Physics; Light Yield; Luminescence
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/160011
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Two-dimensional (2D) hybrid lead bromide perovskites are candidates for high light yield, fast scintillators. In this paper, we discuss the effect of commensurate Lithium (Li)-doping (1 : 1 Li : Pb precursor ratio) on the scintillation properties of two previously reported high light yield 2D-perovskite crystals, PEA2PbBr4 and BA2PbBr4. The effect of Li, e.g. light yield enhancement, is more prominent in PEA2PbBr4 compared to BA2PbBr4. Both perovskite crystals show a broadening of the radioluminescence spectrum and a slightly longer afterglow, with residual scintillation below 2% after 5 s for both materials. The effects of Li on the negative thermal quenching exhibited by the perovskites are also discussed. Li doping increases the light yield of PEA2PbBr4 by 78% and both perovskite materials show an improvement in their energy resolutions, with a record of 7.7% at 662 keV for the Li-doped PEA2PbBr4. Both perovskite crystals also show very fast gamma-ray excited scintillation decays, with average times of 12.9 ns and 8.0 ns for PEA2PbBr4 and BA2PbBr4, respectively. This work shows that Li doping brings a significant improvement of the perovskite performance, making the perovskites more competitive for fast, high light yield applications in the medical, security or industrial sectors.