High-mobility organic semiconducting crystal for direct X-ray detection

Tissue-equivalent pure organic semiconducting crystals (OSCs) have unique advantages in direct X-ray detectors (DXDs), especially for biological tissue fluoroscopy, but their low carrier mobility and inherent weak absorption restrict the limit-of-detection (LoD) and sensitivity of DXDs. High-mobility OSCs theoretically facilitate charge collection and performance leaps, however, they are rare and suffer from poor solubility due to high conjugation, leading to nearly impossible crystal growth from solution and subsequent device applications. Here we report an ingenious solution-processed crystal-growth and high-performance DXD using 2,6-diphenylanthracene (2,6-DPA), a high-mobility OSC we developed recently. In contrast to previous OSCs, high-mobility 2,6-DPA exhibits low dark current density and large photoconductive gain, resulting in record-breaking LoD of <85 nGyair s−1 and sensitivity of >103 μC Gyair−1 cm−2. Compared with semiconductors containing high-Z atoms (Z is atomic number), the accuracy of 2,6-DPA based DXDs is not affected by near-edge absorption effects. Moreover, the non-linear relationship between irradiation current and dose rate is confirmed as a high injection effect. High mobility and ingenious crystal growth strategy make 2,6-DPA an ideal active material for DXDs and also provide the possibility for more optoelectronic applications.