Application fields
Inorganic scintillating materials

BaPt(CN) ₄ was the first material unintentionally used for x-ray detection in 1895. It was originally used to convert UV photons into visible light. It appeared to emit visible light when a Wilhem Röntgen cathode tube was operating while protected against escape of potential light; it allowed the discovery of x-rays. The first radiographic image of a hand, supposed to be Wilhem Röntgen’s wife’s hand is well known. The property of the x-ray to travel through opaque matter made it possible to “see” inside the body. The impact on medical diagnosis was significant, and was even developed as mobile x-ray imaging service during the 1914-1918 war by Marie-Curie.

Nevertheless this property of going through the...