Light yield of scintillating nanocrystals under X-ray and electron excitation

Abstract

In the field of fast timing research, direct-band-gap-engineered semiconductor nanostructures have shown high potential as a new source of prompt photon emission, different from Cherenkov and hot intraband luminescence. In these types of materials, quantum confinement of electron-hole pairs and coherent exciton states play a significant role in enhancing the dipole moment of the absorption and emission transitions. Thus they provide a sub-1 ns radiative decay component, critical to improve state-of-the-art time resolution of current bulk classical scintillators. However, the efficiency of this fast emission processes have not been determined so far in terms of number of photons emitted per energy deposited in the keV range. In this contribution, we propose several methods to determine the light yield of different nano-scintillating structures in order to understand their potential as radiation detectors for fast timing applications. These methods have been implemented using samples of a broad spectrum regarding synthesis, fabrication and preparation methods as well as registered scintillation efficiency, using both X-ray and electron excitation.