LANL research makes Physics World’s top 10 breakthroughs list

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Wanyi Nie holds a prototype x-ray detector produced in her CINT lab.

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In April 2020, research led by Los Alamos Materials Physics and Applications scientists was published in Science Advances—a top journal. The work was groundbreaking, detailing a demonstration of a new x-ray detector that will enable low-dose imaging for dentistry and medicine. The advancement was made possible by 2D layered perovskite diodes.

Less than a week later, Physics World interviewed the Los Alamos corresponding author, Wanyi Nie (Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, MPA-CINT), to further elucidate the impact of the findings.

“Currently, semiconductor detectors are not widely used in large-scale applications because of the cost,” Nie told Physics World. “As we can fabricate our device from solution, one could imagine printing a large, pixelated detector array, which could be drastically cheaper, especially for large-scale imaging applications.”

The full list of improvements and benefits of this technology was astounding.

• The new x-ray detector is 100 times more sensitive than conventional silicon-based devices.
• The detector could dramatically reduce radiation exposure from imaging and associated health risks.
• The detector is self-powered, without an external power source.
• Fabrication of the detector will be cheaper than traditional methods.
• A thinner layer of material (perovskite) offers superior performance to silicon.
• The detector could also boost resolution in security scanners and Advanced Photon Source facilities.

By the end of 2020, Physics World selected this technology for their list of top 10 breakthroughs of the year. The criteria by which the breakthroughs were selected included making a significant advancement in knowledge or understanding as well as demonstrating real-world application.

Funding and mission

The work at Los Alamos was supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program. This work was performed, in part, at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, an Office of Science User Facility operated by the DOE Office of Science. This research also used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory. The research supports the Energy Security mission area and the Complex Natural and Engineered Systems capability pillar.

Eight members of the team were associated with LANL at the time of the work, and one with Argonne National Laboratory: Wanyi Nie, Hsinhan (Dave) Tsai, Fangze Liu, Shreetu Shrestha, Kasun Fernando, Brian Scott (MPA), Duc Ta Vo (NEN), Joseph Strzalka (Argonne), and Sergei Tretiak (T). 

References: “A sensitive and robust thin-film x-ray detector using 2D layered perovskite diodes,” Science Advances, 6, 15 (2020). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aay0815

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Technical contact: Wanyi Nie