Spectrally Tunable Zero-Dimensional Manganese–Antimony-Based Halide Solid-Solution Glasses for X-ray Imaging and Information Encryption

Abstract

Abstract Despite significant advances in high-performance X-ray scintillators based on organic–inorganic hybrid metal halides (OIHMHs), realizing spectrally tunable luminescence within a single OIHMH system remains a formidable challenge for next-generation multifunctional photonics. Herein, a series of Mn/Sb solid-solution OIHMH (denoted as M-MxSy) glasses were synthesized via a melt-quenching method using methyltriphenylphosphonium (MTP) as the organic ligand. These solid-solution glasses exhibit excellent glass-forming ability, thermal stability, and high optical transparency (>85%) in the range of 500–800 nm. The stable coexistence of Mn2+ and Sb3+ luminescent centers is observed, which display distinct, excitation-dependent competitive emissions including a 528 nm green emission from Mn2+ under 450 nm excitation and a 648 nm orange-red emission from self-trapped excitons (STEs) of Sb3+ under 396 nm excitation. Conversely, X-ray excitation can simultaneously activate both centers, enabling comprehensive color tuning depending on the Mn/Sb ratio. Notably, the optimized M-M3S1 glass demonstrates superior scintillation performance, with a high light yield of ∼35,300 photons M eV–1 and a spatial resolution of 20 lp mm–1. By leveraging these differentiated multimode luminescent responses, a high-quality X-ray imaging and a multilevel information encryption scheme were developed, highlighting the synergistic potential of these materials for advanced radiation imaging and anticounterfeiting applications.