Scientists from SFU, which is part of the Yenisei Siberia Scientific and Educational Center, together with colleagues from China, have developed a new material for X-ray detectors (“receivers”). It is highly flexible, efficient, and environmentally friendly.
The principle of obtaining an X-ray image is to convert radiation into visible light, and then into a digital image. This process is provided by special materials in the detector, called scintillators. Their disadvantages at present are rigidity and fragility.
The new materials created by the scientists are very flexible: they can be stretched four times without losing their properties. The key advantage of the development is record efficiency. The material converts almost every quantum of X-ray radiation into a light signal. This allows for clearer and more informative high-resolution images. At the same time, the new scintillators do not contain heavy metals such as lead, which makes them safer for the environment.
“The developed materials can significantly advance X-ray imaging technologies. Flexible detectors will allow creating scanners for complex surfaces in industry, compact diagnostic systems in medicine, and more convenient airport screening devices. Their production does not require rare or expensive components, and their resistance to external influences makes them suitable for use in a variety of conditions,” said Maxim Molokeev, associate professor of the Basic Department of Solid State Physics and Nanotechnology at the Institute of Engineering Physics and Radioelectronics at SFU.
In the future, the researchers plan to improve the characteristics of the materials already obtained.
The work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation.
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The world-class Scientific and Educational Center (SEC) “Yenisei Siberia” was created in 2019. It is an interregional association initiated by the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Republics of Khakassia and Tyva. The SEC participants include 28 scientific and educational organizations and enterprises of the real sector of the economy. During its work, the Scientific and Educational Center “Yenisei Siberia” has formed more than 50 comprehensive projects for the development of new technologies, uniting the leading scientific, educational and production organizations of the region and the country.