Plastic scintillation fiber with europium complexes for low-dose X-ray detection and long-distance imaging

Abstract

Scintillating fibers have been widely used in medical diagnostics, high-energy physics, and industrial inspection. However, the fabrication of scintillating fibers with excellent radiation stability and high luminescence remains a major challenge. Here, we report a new plastic scintillation fiber with Eu (TTA)₃(TPPO)₂ as the core scintillator (Eu-PSF). The Eu-PSF can avoid the self-absorption phenomenon and has a high light yield of 9000 photons per MeV. The luminescence of Eu-PSF decreases by only about 5% after one hour of X-ray exposure at 0.555 μGy s⁻¹ and 8.325 μGy s⁻¹. Attractively, Eu-PSF has an excellent linear relationship with X-ray dose, with a detection limit of 555 nGy s⁻¹, well below the standard dose for X-ray diagnosis (5.5 μGy s⁻¹). This suggests that Eu-PSF can be used to detect low doses of radiation, particularly in medical diagnosis. In addition, we have conducted X-ray imaging studies using Eu-PSF fiber arrays, demonstrating the feasibility of Eu-PSF for X-ray imaging. Due to the good light conductivity of optical fibers, Eu-PSF has great potential for radiation detection over long distances.