Efficient Multicolor Emission Zn-Sb-Mn Chloride Scintillators: Large-Scale Production for Multi-Level Anti-Counterfeiting, Information Storage, and X-Ray Imaging

Abstract

Achieving multiple efficient emissions from a single scintillator material is challenging. This work presents several Zn or Cd-based halide materials with tetrahedral clusters, which show high-efficiency, multicolor emission scintillating by co-doping Sb³⁺ and Mn²⁺. In this 0D structure, Mn²⁺ and Sb³⁺ can function as independent emission centers, producing efficient green or red emission bands, respectively, all with photoluminescent quantum yields (PLQYs) exceeding 70% for green, yellow, and red emissions. Notably, Ph₃M-Zn:Sb³⁺@Mn²⁺ out of the above compounds exhibits PLQY values exceeding 90% for all three color emissions. Furthermore, it demonstrates exceptional scintillation performance under X-ray illumination, achieving a resolution of 18 lp mm⁻¹ and a detection limit of 50.1 nGy_airS⁻¹, surpassing most commercial scintillators. Additionally, the cross- and independent-emission colors produced by these compounds under varying excitations have been utilized to develop novel optical anti-counterfeiting and information storage applications with high security. These advances demonstrate that co-doping with Sb³⁺ and Mn²⁺ significantly can optimize the optical performance of the host halide materials, for multifunctional scintillators in a variety of technological applications.