Bright and fast scintillation of organolead perovskite MAPbBr₃ at low temperatures

We report the excellent scintillation properties of MAPbBr₃, an organic–inorganic trihalide perovskite (OTP). The characteristic scintillation time constants were determined using pulsed monochromatic 14 keV X-rays from a synchrotron. We find that between 50 and 130 K the MAPbBr₃ crystal exhibits a very fast and intense scintillation response, with the fast (τ_f) and slow (τ_s) decay components reaching 0.1 and 1 ns, respectively. The light yield of MAPbBr₃ is estimated to be 90 000 ± 18 000 ph MeV⁻¹ at 77 K and 116 000 ± 23 000 ph MeV⁻¹ at 8 K.