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Glowing nanocrystals enable 3D X-ray imaging

Persistently luminescent nanocrystals have been used to make flexible X-ray detectors that produce better images of 3D objects than do the flat-panel detectors currently widely used in radiography.
  1. Albano N. Carneiro Neto

    1. Albano N. Carneiro Neto is in the Physics Department and CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, 3810 Aveiro, Portugal.

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  2. Oscar L. Malta

    1. Oscar L. Malta is in the Department of Fundamental Chemistry, Federal University of Pernambuco, 50740 Recife, Brazil.

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The discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Röntgen1 in 1895 led to many great advances in medical and industrial radiography. But, perhaps surprisingly, high-resolution X-ray imaging of 3D objects remains a daunting challenge. Writing in Nature, Ou et al.2 report a potential solution to this problem, using nanocrystals that can trap the energy of X-rays for several weeks.

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Nature 590, 396-397 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00350-2

References

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