InSe as a case between 3D and 2D layered crystals for excitons.

InSe is a promising material in many aspects where the role of excitons is decisive. Here we report the sequential appearance in its luminescence of the exciton, the biexciton, and the P-band of the exciton-exciton scattering while the excitation power increases. The strict energy and momentum conservation rules of the P-band are used to reexamine the exciton binding energy. The new value ≥20 meV is markedly higher than the currently accepted one (14 meV), being however well consistent with the robustness of the excitons up to room temperature. A peak controlled by the Sommerfeld factor is found near the bandgap (~1.36 eV). Our findings supported by theoretical calculations taking into account the anisotropic material parameters question the pure three-dimensional character of the exciton in InSe, assumed up to now. The refined character and parameters of the exciton are of paramount importance for the successful application of InSe in nanophotonics.

Phase mapping of aging process in InN nanostructures: oxygen incorporation and the role of the zinc blende phase.

Uncapped InN nanostructures undergo a deleterious natural aging process at ambient conditions by oxygen incorporation. The phases involved in this process and their localization is mapped by transmission electron microscopy (TEM)-related techniques. The parent wurtzite InN (InN-w) phase disappears from the surface and gradually forms a highly textured cubic layer that completely wraps up a InN-w nucleus which still remains from the original single-crystalline quantum dots. The good reticular relationships between the different crystals generate low misfit strains and explain the apparent easiness for phase transformations at room temperature and pressure conditions, but also disable the classical methods to identify phases and grains from TEM images. The application of the geometrical phase algorithm in order to form numerical moiré mappings and RGB multilayered image reconstructions allows us to discern among the different phases and grains formed inside these nanostructures. Samples aged for shorter times reveal the presence of metastable InN:O zinc blende (zb) volumes, which act as the intermediate phase between the initial InN-w and the most stable cubic In(2)O(3) end phase. These cubic phases are highly twinned with a proportion of 50:50 between both orientations. We suggest that the existence of the intermediate InN:O-zb phase should be seriously considered to understand the reason for the widely scattered reported fundamental properties of thought to be InN-w, as its bandgap or superconductivity.

In vivo 31P MRS of experimental tumours.

More than 50% of cancers fail to respond to any individual treatment and tumour follow-up after treatment plays a major role in routine therapy planning and pharmacological research. Today, MRS is the only technological approach providing non-invasive access to tumour biochemistry. Ten years ago, expectations were raised concerning 31P MRS as an exciting and promising technical approach to the study of tumours. However the expectations have not always come to fruition. How close are we now to seeing routine 31P NMR in clinical oncology? This review of the 127 published papers shows spectroscopy results in more than 150 experimental animal tumour models. These tumour/host/treatment systems provide us with a useful basis to evaluate the current state of the art, summarize the basic knowledge presently available, determine the key points underlying the present disappointment of some clinical oncologists and stimulate new basic research. The information collected concerns the discussion of the reliability of experimental models in oncology, the technical improvement of magnetic resonance technology and the monitoring of bioenergetic status, pH regulation and phospholipid metabolism in treated and untreated tumours. Recent advances (two-thirds of the papers have been published in the last 5 years) seem to provide more optimistic perspectives than those generally accepted a few years ago, in the depressing period following early pioneering work.