The development and characterisation of large area inorganic-organic hybrid X-ray imagers

SilverRay有限公司是一家初创公司，其主要目标是利用大面积开发的技术，高灵敏度宽带X射线探测器。这项专有技术已证明其灵敏度比传统的有机检测器高2-3个数量级;同时在低电压下工作，并对非平面表面提供出色的一致性。其主要卖点之一是该技术具有大面积低成本可制造性的潜力。探测器活性材料由“X射线敏感油墨”组成，其中含有有机材料和无机纳米颗粒的互穿网络。“X射线敏感油墨”可用于在任何基底上镀膜，特别是对柔性探测器没有限制。到目前为止，小面积探测器（面积< 1平方厘米）已开发与目前正在进行的规模扩大SilverRay有限公司的挑战在于生产均匀的厚膜涂层，其中该公司寻求均匀的纳米粒子分布的应用通过整个膜的深度和空间跨越像素到像素。无机纳米粒子的均匀分布对成像仪至关重要，因为高原子序数纳米粒子是使墨水对X射线敏感并因此产生电荷载流子的关键组分。因此，我们希望在背板的每个像素上均匀分布纳米颗粒，从而使每个像素因X射线产生的电荷均匀且彼此相同。在该项目中，我们将专注于大面积厚膜涂层的制造，这些薄膜将由A4 I合作伙伴NPL和LGC进行表征。他们将研究如何进一步优化仪器，以更高的精度分析纳米颗粒的均匀性，并提出一种可以在原位打印制造环境中实施的解决方案。该项目的成果将有助于公司更好地了解优化探测器有源层的路线，从而提高性能和响应速度。"

"SilverRay Ltd. is a start-up company whose primary goal is to exploit the technology developed in a large area, high sensitivity broad-band X-ray detectors. This proprietary technology has demonstrated its sensitivity to be 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than the conventional organic detectors; while operating at low voltage and offer excellent conformability to non-planar surfaces. One of its key selling points is the potential for low cost manufacurability of the technology over large areas.The detector active material consists of an 'X-ray sensitive ink' containing an interpenetrating network of organic material and inorganic nanoparticles. The 'X-ray sensitive ink' can be used to coat films over any substrate, especially without constraints for flexible detectors. Thus far, small area detectors (area < 1 cm2) have been developed with the scale-up currently being carried out by SilverRay Ltd. Challenges lie within the production of uniform thick film coatings, where the company seeks for the application of uniform nanoparticle distributions through-out the film depth and spatially across pixel-to-pixel. A well-uniformed distribution of inorganic nanoparticles is crucial to the imager, as the high atomic number nanoparticles are the key component which makes the ink sensitive to X-rays and as a result generate charge carriers. Therefore, it is expected to have a uniform distribution of nanoparticles on each pixel of the backplane, so that the charge generation from each pixel due to X-rays is uniform and identical to each other.In this project, we will focus on the fabrication of large area thick film coating and these films will be characterised by the A4I partners; NPL and LGC. They will be working on how to optimise their instrumentation further to analyse the uniformity of nanoparticles with higher precision towards its nanoscale morphology, and present a solution that can be implemented in an in-situ printing manufacturing environment. The outcome of this project will facilitate the company to have a better understanding on routes to optimise the active layer of the detector which would lead to higher performances and faster responses."