A novel nitrogenous-based manganese(II) bromide scintillation glass with outstanding thermoplasticity, fabricability and reusability for curved X-ray imaging.

Glass is a material with attractive qualities, such as simple manufacturing, durability and high transparency. The combination of glass and organic-inorganic manganese halides (OIMnHs) has received widespread attention because of the resulting excellent scintillation properties. However, the optical performance and processing flexibility of OIMnHs glass scintillation screens are still insufficient and need further optimization by adjusting the structure of the organic cations. Herein, a novel OIMnHs material, (CHN)MnBr, is designed for X-ray detection and imaging. By incorporating bulky organic cations as spacers, the distance between Mn is effectively extended, which suppresses nonradiative energy transfer and enhances the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). The material exhibits excellent optical properties, including a near-unity PLQY of 98.8% and efficient green luminescence under UV and X-ray excitation. This OIMnHs is successfully fabricated into luminescent glass through a melt-quenching process, resulting in optical homogeneity, high transparency, low light scattering, and excellent processability. Owing to the low glass transition temperature T = 41.3 °C, the glass can be easily curved and fabricated into different shapes. The glass screen shows promising X-ray scintillation properties, with a light yield (LY) of 26,697 photons MeV, a low detection limit (LOD) of 3.603 μGy s, and an impressive spatial resolution of 16.6 lp mm, making it suitable for curved X-ray detectors. The high radiation stability and recyclability of the material further reinforce its application potential in next-generation optical devices for medical imaging, radiation detection, and high-energy physics.