Due to recent development in detector technology, photon-counting computed tomography (PCCT) has become a rapidly emerging medical imaging technology. Current PCCT systems rely on the direct conversion of X-ray photons into charge pulses, using CdTe, CZT, or Si semiconductor detectors. Indirect detection using ultrafast scintillators coupled to silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) offers a potentially more straightforward and cost-effective alternative. In this work a new 2D perovskite scintillator, benzylamonium lead bromide (BZA)₂PbBr₄, is experimentally characterised as function of temperature. The material exhibits a 4.2 ns decay time under X-ray excitation at room temperature and a light yield of 3700 photons/MeV. The simulation tool developed by Van der Sar et al. was used to model the pulse trains produced by a SiPM-based (BZA)₂PbBr₄ detector. The fast decay time of (BZA)₂PbBr₄ results in outstanding count-rate performance as well as very low statistical fluctuations in the simulated pulses. These features of (BZA)₂PbBr₄, combined with its cost-effective synthesis make (BZA)₂PbBr₄ very promising for PCCT.

In this work the scintillation properties of PEA₂PbBr₄ are studied as function of temperature, accessing the potential use of these materials for low temperature applications. The scintillation properties and mechanism have been studied using a combination of temperature dependent photoluminescence emission and excitation, X-ray excited emission and decay measurements. At room temperature the X-ray excited emission is dominated by the 442 nm emission with a lifetime of 35.2 ns. Under UV-Vis photon excitation an additional emission peak is observed at 412 nm. At 10 K, both X-ray and UV-Vis photon excited emission spectra show a narrow emission peak at 412 nm and a broad emission band centred around 525 nm with a lifetime of 1.53 ns (24%) and 154 ns (76%) respectively. The exact nature of the observed emission peaks is not known. For this reason two potential mechanisms explaining the difference between UV-Vis photon and X-ray excitation and their temperature dependent emissions are explored. The total spectral intensity decreases to 72% of the intensity at room temperature at 10 K. It is suggested that the observed negative thermal quenching behaviour results from a combination of more self absorption and a higher degree of self trapped exciton formation under X-ray excitation. Based on the observed fast decay component at 10 K and light yield of 9400 photons per MeV at room temperature, showing only a 28% decrease at 10 K, could make this material potentially interesting for low temperature and fast timing applications.