Design of new room temperature hard radiation detectors and the story of CsPbBr3 perovskite
Abstract: Highly sensitive hard radiation detectors operating at room temperature are greatly desired for national security, non-proliferation, and medical applications. The semiconductor CsPbBr3 with wide band gap (2.25 eV) and high density (4.85 g/cm3) has shown high spectral resolution of g-rays at room temperature. In this talk, we will overview the research progress on the bulk CsPbBr3 crystals studied so far and our recent accomplishments achieved by a modified device design and a substantially improved quality of single crystals, which identified CsPbBr3 as an outstanding candidate for g-ray detector applications. The hole lifetime in CsPbBr3 single crystals exceeds 25 μs. We will present effective procedures to produce CsPbBr3 and the growth of single crystals with enhanced quality and larger size using the Bridgman method. These crystals show significantly reduced levels of twinning but can present remarkable energy resolving capability under both X and g rays, particularly in achieving 3.9% (4.8 keV, FWHM) energy resolution for 122 keV 57Co g-ray and <2% for 662 keV 137Cs g-ray. As time permits developments in additional new materials will be presented.
Bio: Mercouri Kanatzidis has a BSc degree from Aristotle University in Greece, and a PhD degree in Chemistry from the University of Iowa in 1984. He was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Michigan and Northwestern University and is currently Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University. His research areas include halide perovskites, solid state and coordination chemistry of chalcogenide compounds, design and synthesis of new materials, solar energy materials, thermoelectric materials, intermetallics, porous semiconductors and quantum materials. He is the recipient of the Royal Chemical Society DeGennes Prize 2015; 2015 ENI Award for the ‘‘Renewable Energy Prize’’ category; the ACS Award in Inorganic Chemistry 2016; and the American Physical Society 2016 James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials; 2016 Samson Prime Minister's Prize for Innovation in Alternative Fuels for Transportation; 2019 - DOE Ten at Ten Scientific Ideas Award for the first demonstration of all-solid-state solar cells using halide perovskite materials.
