Driven by the rapid advancement of X-ray imaging systems toward large-area integration, real-time acquisition, dynamic operation, and harsh-environment deployment, the requirements for scintillator performance have expanded far beyond conventional metrics. Accordingly, developing multifunctional scintillators that combine high efficiency, ultrahigh imaging fidelity, rapid response, long term durability, controllable energy-storage behavior, and scalable manufacturability has emerged as a critical challenge for both radiation detection and materials science.
Recently, a team of material scientists led by Rongfei Wei from Zhejiang Normal University, China, first reported a Ce3+-doped glass scintillator with excellent X-ray excited luminescence (XEL) and high quantum efficiency. This work advances Frenkel defect engineering in amorphous scintillators and provides a promising strategy for developing multifunctional X-ray imaging materials.
The team published their work in Journal of Advanced Ceramics on October 12, 2026.
"In this work, the combination of parity-allowed Ce3+ emission, fluoride-mediated phonon suppression, and a robust borosilicate framework concurrently promotes efficient radiative recombination and exceptional environmental resilience. Moreover, X-ray-induced Frenkel defects provide effective carrier trapping while retaining strong XEL, extending functionality beyond conventional real-time detection," said Rongfei Wei, an associate professor at Department of physics at Zhejiang Normal University (China), whose research focus on glass and glass ceramics materials.
The optimized glass delivers IQE of 92.4% and EQE of 85%, with XEL intensity reaching up to 190% of BGO after "bright-burning effect", representing state-of-the-art performance among Ce3+-activated glass scintillators. Besides, optimal glass exhibits high transmittance (>80% at 380 nm), linear response to X-ray dose, low detection limit (7.12 mGy/s), excellent radiation, thermal and chemical stability. Its rapid scintillation response and negligible room-temperature afterglow further enable high-fidelity imaging of transient events with minimal artifacts. "The excellent XEL intensity and high transmittance jointly ensure high X-ray imaging quality," said Rongfei Wei.
"Benefiting from the intrinsic environmental adaptability of glass and the synergistic regulation of luminescence and defect states, this work expands glass scintillators beyond conventional single-mode detection toward multimodal and environment-adaptive X-ray imaging. Consequently, high-resolution X-ray imaging, including real-time (22.1 lp/mm), time-lapse (12 lp/mm), dynamic (60 fps), high-temperature and underwater modes, is achieved." said Rongfei Wei.
Other corresponding authors include Hai Guo from Department of physics at Zhejiang Normal University (China) and Xiaoling Tian form Yangtze Delta Region Institute (Quzhou) at University of Electronic Science and Technology (China). Other contributors include Siyu Guo and Fangfang Hu from Department of physics at Zhejiang Normal University (China).
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.51802285, 12574443), the Municipal Government of Quzhou (Grand No. 2024D020).
About Author
Rongfei Wei, an associate professor at the Department of Physics, Zhejiang Normal University, mainly focuses on the research of optical functional materials. She has published over 50 SCI-indexed papers as the first or corresponding author in journals such as Laser Photonics Rev., Adv. Opt. Mater., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, Opt. Lett., Opt. Express, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. She has been listed on the "Global Top 2% Scientists List" for both career and annual rankings (2022-2026). She has led two National Natural Science Foundation projects and one provincial fund project.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.51802285, 12574443), the Municipal Government of Quzhou (Grand No. 2024D020).
DOI LINK: 10.26599/JAC.2026.9221393
About Journal of Advanced Ceramics
Journal of Advanced Ceramics (JAC) is an international academic journal that presents the state-of-the-art results of theoretical and experimental studies on the processing, structure, and properties of advanced ceramics and ceramic-based composites. JAC is Fully Open Access, monthly published by Tsinghua University Press, and exclusively available via SciOpen . JAC's 2024 IF is 16.6, ranking in Top 1 (1/33, Q1) among all journals in "Materials Science, Ceramics" category, and its 2024 CiteScore is 25.9 (5/130) in Scopus database. ResearchGate homepage: https://www.researchgate.net/journal/Journal-of-Advanced-Ceramics-2227-8508
