Solution-Grown Organic and Perovskite X-Ray Detectors: A New Paradigm for the Direct Detection of Ionizing Radiation

The recent years witnessed an unprecedented enhancement in improved functionality materials and in the sophistication of solution-based device fabrication techniques. Such significant advancements lead to unexpected and effective opportunities for the utilization of solution-grown organic materials and perovskites in the detection of ionizing radiation. This review presents an updated overview of the recently reported top performing and more innovative organic/perovskite-based X-ray detectors, providing a comparison and a critical discussion on the different materials’ properties and performance. Solution-growth methods that allow to obtain detector grade electronic materials are discussed, focusing on the growth both of single crystals and of thin/thick films and foreseeing the implementation of large-area, organic/hybrid-, and perovskite-based radiation detectors. Insights into the X-ray detection mechanisms are provided, detailing the fundamental processes involved in the charge collection and in the photoconductive gain model, together with the typical figures of merit that describe radiation detector performance.