Cs2HfCl6:Mo4+ as Near-Infrared-Emitting Scintillators for Dual-Mode Collaborative Imaging

Abstract

X-ray imaging based on scintillators with visible-light emission primarily reveals structural information, but the integrated detection of complex targets, especially biological systems, remains challenging. Here, a dual-mode collaborative imaging strategy is proposed based on the design of perovskite-type halide scintillators (Cs₂HfCl₆:Mo⁴⁺), which present efficient near-infrared (NIR) emission above 900 nm upon the excitations of 808 nm laser and X-ray sources. Dual-mode indirect imaging with simple excitation source switching has been performed to visualize bone and blood vessels in biological targets. The light yield and detection limit are estimated to be 44500 Ph MeV⁻¹ and 87.4 nGy s⁻¹, respectively, and a dual-mode imaging screen with spatial resolution of 14 lp mm⁻¹ for NIR imaging and 12 lp mm⁻¹ for X-ray imaging is successfully obtained. This work may stimulate research into the NIR scintillators for the development of multi-mode imaging with mitigating light crosstalk.