Fuai Hu, Yanru Yin*, Yang Li, Feifei Guo, Jianhui Liu, Zeliang Gao*

Cite this article: Chin. J. Struct. Chem., 2026, 45(5), 100863. DOI: 10.1016/j.cjsc.2025.100863

Publication date: May 1, 2026

Keywords: Ferroelectric crystal; X-ray detectors; Ultra-low detection limit; Self-powered X-ray imaging

ABSTRACT

Self-powered X-ray detectors that combine high sensitivity with low detection limits have emerged as a critical focus in radiation detection research. This work pioneers the application of lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate (PMN-PT) single crystal, renowned for its piezoelectric properties, as a material in self-powered X-ray detectors. Due to its super internal electrostatic field, the PMN-PT single crystal self-powered detector exhibits a sensitivity of 346 μC Gyair-1 cm-2 and a detection limit of 0.43 nGyair s-1 under 40 keV X-rays, which is 17 times and 0.008% as those of the commercial α-Se detector, respectively. Notably, the detector maintains a high sensitivity of 157 μC Gyair-1 cm-2 even under hard 120 keV, surpassing the performance of most reported perovskite self-powered detectors. Furthermore, the detector exhibits a significantly reduced baseline drift (∼1.0 pA) and excellent operational stability in self-powered mode. This study conclusively demonstrates that polar piezoelectric crystals, which incorporate heavy metal elements, are highly promising candidates for developing high-performance self-powered X-ray detectors.