Sensitive and Fast X-Ray Scintillation with Perovskite-Inspired Cerium Halide Nanocrystals

Real-time, high-precision X-ray imaging is of critical importance in a wide range of applications, from medical diagnostics to security screening. While lanthanide luminescent materials are among the most commonly used scintillators, achieving a combination of large-area scalability, rapid response, and optimal performance remains challenging. Herein, a perovskite-inspired cerium halide nanocrystal scintillator is presented with a remarkable photoluminescence quantum yield approaching unity and a fast radiative recombination rate of ≈29 ns. By leveraging these promising characteristics, large-area X-ray imaging is demonstrated with a spatial resolution of 12.21 lp mm⁻¹ and an ultra-low detection limit of 11.2 nGy s⁻¹, alongside applications in dynamic imaging. Based on these paternal nanocrystals, the versatile spectral tunability through halide alloying and cation doping is further explored, offering a promising platform for future chemical and structural design toward advanced scintillations and other down-conversion applications.