Transparent Medium Embedded with ZnS Quantum Dots for X-Ray Imaging

Scintillator is a core device in X-ray imaging technology. It can convert absorbed X-ray or other high-energy charged particles into visible light, and it is widely used in medical diagnosis, radiation dose measurement and safety inspection. At present, most commercial scintillators are single crystal or thin film materials, which have complex preparation process, long growth cycle, high cost, as well as poor irradiation stability and imaging effect. In this paper, ZnS quantum dots glass-ceramics (GC) as a low cost and weather resistance scintillator for X-ray indirect imaging was prepared through in-situ precipitation of ZnS quantum dots (QDs) into transparent glass matrix. The experimental results show that the emission peak of ZnS GC is located at 518 nm under X-ray irradiation, and the fish bone and chip are imaged by X-ray imaging system. The image contour is clear, the internal structure of the object is clear, and the imaging resolution reaches 18.0 lp/mm due to the uniform distribution of ZnS quantum dots in the glass matrix. Also, the damaged ZnS GC scintillator can completely recover its imaging performance by simple heat treatment at a cumulative dose of 288 J/kg. It is indicated that ZnS GC as a scintillator has a broad application prospect in the field of high resolution X-ray imaging.