Geant4 simulation of zinc oxide nanowires in anodized aluminum oxide template as a low energy X-ray scintillator detector

In this work, ZnO nanowires in anodized aluminum oxide nanoporous template are proposed as an architecture for development of new generation of scintillator based X-ray imagers. The optical response of crystalline ordered ZnO nanowire arrays in porous anodized aluminum oxide template under 20 keV X-ray illumination is simulated using the Geant4 Monte Carlo code. The results show that anodized aluminum oxide template has a special impact as a light guide to conduct the optical photons induced by X-ray toward the detector thickness and to decrease the light scattering in detector volume. This inexpensive and effective method can significantly improve the spatial resolution in scintillator based X-ray imagers, especially in medical applications.