Sintered Polycrystalline BiVO4 Pellet for Stable X‐Ray Detector with Low Detection Limit

Abstract

AbstractSemiconductors based on Bi element show large attenuation coefficients to X‐ray photons and have been recognized as candidates for X‐ray detectors. However, the application of stable Bi‐based oxide materials to X‐ray detectors has been rarely investigated. In this research, the X‐ray response of a BiVO4 pellet has been studied. It has been found that the BiVO4 pellet has a large resistivity of 1.3 × 1012 Ω cm, negligible current drift of 6.18 × 10−8 nA cm−1 s−1 V−1 under electrical bias and mobility lifetime product, µτ, of 1.75 × 10−4 cm2 V−1, which renders the pellet with an X‐ray sensitivity of 241.3 µC Gyair−1 cm−2 and a detection limit of 62 nGyair s−1 under 40 KVp X‐ray illumination and 40 V bias voltage. The BiVO4 pellet also shows operational stability under steady X‐ray illumination with total dose of 2.01 Gyair, equal to the dose of 20 000 medical chest X‐ray inspections. This research reveals the potential application of BiVO4 in X‐ray detection devices and inspires further research in this area.