ABSTRACT Scintillators play a critical role in medical imaging, security screening, and industrial nondestructive testing. In recent years, manganese‐based halide materials have emerged as promising candidates for next‐generation X‐ray scintillation due to their environmentally benign composition, low cost, facile synthesis, tunable emission and high radioluminescence efficiency. This review summarizes the recent progress in Mn‐based and Mn 2+ ‐doped metal halide scintillators. First, the photoluminescence and X‐ray scintillation mechanisms are discussed, with emphasis on the structure–property relationships governing their luminescence behavior. Then, preparation strategies and advances in organic–inorganic Mn‐based halide scintillation screens are systematically reviewed, including powder–polymer composites, in situ grown nanocrystals, large‐area single crystals, melt‐quenched glasses, and flexible gel scintillators, with an emphasis on their unique properties and applications, including flexible screens, multienergy scintillation imaging, fast neutron radiography (FNR), and polarization imaging. Progress in all‐inorganic Mn‐based halides and Mn 2+ ‐doped metal halides (e.g., Pb‐, Cu‐, Cd‐, Zn‐, and Bi‐based hosts) is also discussed, illustrating how Mn 2 + incorporation enables tunable emission pathways and improved scintillation performance. Finally, key challenges and future opportunities, including stability enhancement, scalable fabrication, scintillation screen integration, and AI‐assisted material design, are outlined to facilitate the development of high‐performance Mn‐based halide scintillators for low‐dose, high‐resolution X‐ray imaging.
Kong et al. (2026) studied this question.