High-performance direct conversion X-ray detectors based on sintered hybrid lead triiodide perovskite wafers

Lead halide perovskite semiconductors are in general known to have an inherently high X-ray absorption cross-section and a significantly higher carrier mobility than any other lowerature solution-processed semiconductor. So far, the processing of several-hundred-micrometres-thick high-quality crystalline perovskite films over a large area has been unresolved for efficient X-ray detection. In this Article, we present a mechanical sintering process to fabricate polycrystalline methyl ammonium lead triiodide perovskite (MAPbI 3) wafers with millimetre thickness and well-defined crystallinity. Benchmarking of the MAPbI 3 wafers against state-of-the-art CdTe detectors reveals competitive conversion efficiencies of 2,527.μC.Gy air 1 cm-2 under 70.kV p X-ray exposure. The high ambipolar mobility-lifetime product of 2 × 10-4 cm-2 V 1 is suggested to be responsible for this exceptionally high sensitivity. Our findings inform a new generation of highly efficient and low-cost X-ray detectors based on perovskite wafers. © 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved.