Radioluminescence of polynuclear cuprous iodide clusters

During the past few years, renewed interest in the luminescence properties of polynuclear copper(I) compounds based on Cu4I4L4 derivatives and salts of the Cu4I62– anion has arisen with regard to potential applications of these materials as radiation sensors. Here we review ongoing studies in this laboratory and in a number of others describing such systems. Investigations of the time-resolved radioluminescence of crystalline Cu4I62– salts reveal different temporal responses to excitation with various radiation types. The differences can be attributed to the generation of multiple excited states (or self-trapped excitons) in confined volumes of the solid salts, leading to non-exponential decays of these scintillators owing to bimolecular, nonradiative quenching.