Flexibly Prepared Tb3+-Doped Oxyfluoride Glass Scintillators with Enhanced Luminescence for X-Ray Imaging and Detection

Abstract

The development of eco-friendly, flexibly preparable, and highly efficient glass scintillators is of paramount importance for practical applications in fields such as medical imaging and radiation detection. Herein, a series of Tb³⁺-doped oxyfluoride glass is successfully synthesized using the high-temperature melt-quenching method. The oxyfluoride glasses exhibit bright green photoluminescence with an internal quantum yield (IQE) of 95.6% and high optical transmittance exceeding 85% at 550 nm. Specifically, the optimized LASNG: 4 mol% Tb³⁺ glass demonstrates superior performance, including a significantly enhanced X-ray excites luminescence (XEL) with an integrated intensity 209% that of Bi₄Ge₃O₁₂ (BGO) and an exceptional spatial resolution of 30 lp∙mm⁻¹ under X-ray irradiation-surpassing most of the reported glass scintillators. Additionally, it also exhibits a linear response to X-ray dose rates with a low detection limit of 1.5 µGy∙s⁻¹ and maintains excellent irradiation stability under continuous X-ray exposure. This study proposes a promising approach for the development of cost-effective, high-resolution, and scalable glass scintillators tailored for X-ray imaging and detection applications.