Abstract

Breast cancer screening is crucial for early detection, yet minimizing cumulative radiation exposure remains a clinical challenge. I will present a unified approach to drastically reducing X-ray doses without sacrificing image clarity by maximizing scintillator light output. First, we will explore the role of materials science, introducing our recent discovery of nanocluster glasses as highly efficient scintillators. I will detail the fundamental scintillation mechanisms that drive the exceptional intrinsic performance of these zero-dimensional quantum glasses. Next, I will examine how nanophotonics can overcome severe optical trapping within these homogeneous glass scintillators. By integrating custom metasurfaces, we dictate forward-directed light extraction, effectively breaking the historical trade-off between extraction efficiency and spatial resolution. Clinically, this translates to high-contrast biological imaging and 30-fps dynamic tracking of cardiac stents, successfully outperforming gold-standard commercial CsI systems. This synergy of novel material design and metasurface engineering enables high-resolution X-ray imaging at significantly lowered radiation doses, establishing a scalable platform for safer, next-generation clinical diagnostics. 

Biography

Dr. Mehmet Bayindir received his PhD in Physics from Bilkent University and subsequently worked as a research scientist in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT. Returning to Turkey, he co-established the National Nanotechnology Research Center (UNAM), directing it until 2016 and elevating it into an innovation hub in the region. A dedicated mentor, he has supervised over 30 students, many of whom have secured positions at leading universities.

His research has been supported by two prestigious European Research Council (ERC) grants, and he was recently awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Prize. Currently, Dr. Bayindir is an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the University of Hamburg and a visiting faculty member at KAUST. At KAUST, he and Prof. Osman Bakr are pursuing translational, industry-focused projects on functional fibers, smart greenhouse covers, and low-dose X-ray imaging.