Highly luminescent, stable, and biocompatible 3C-SiC quantum dots (QDs) with no protective shells have been applied for fluorescence imaging of biological living cells. Structural and luminescent properties of the 3C-SiC QDs are described. Marking of the living cells with such QDs highlights the penetration, accumulation, and heterogeneous distribution of the QDs inside the intracellular space.

We present a noncontact and nondestructive method to measure thermal conductivity in layered materials using micro-Raman scattering. This method was successfully applied to monocrystalline silicon whose thermal conductivity was found to be 63 W/m K at about 550 °C and then applied to porous silicon layers. For a 50 μm thick layer with 50% porosity, we found a thermal conductivity of 1 W/m K confirming the thermal insulating properties of this material.

We report here a theoretical model describing specific mechanisms of heat transport in as-prepared and oxidized meso-porous silicon layers. The model is in good agreement with experimental measurements performed by micro-Raman scattering on the layers surface. For the first time, thermal conductivity inhomogeneity along the porous layer thickness of 100 μm is studied. Direct correlation between the thermal conductivity and morphology variations along the layer thickness is brought to the fore. A new approach to estimate local porosity of the porous layers based on thermal conductivity and Si nanocrystallite size measurements is also proposed.