Opto‐electronic properties and light‐emitting device application of widegap layered oxychalcogenides: LaCuOCh (Ch = chalcogen) and La2CdO2Se2

Abstract This issue's Editor's Choice [1] reviews electronic and optical properties of various widegap oxychalcogenides which are connected to their crystal structures. Two examples are shown in the cover picture: Ln CuO Ch ( Ln = lanthanide, Ch = chalcogen, left) and La 2 CdO 2 Se 2 (right). These oxychalcogenides have layered structures composed of alternate stackings of tetrahedrally coordinated oxide and chalcogenide layers. The rectangular solids depict the unit cells of the materials. The first author Hidenori Hiramatsu is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher in the ERATO‐SORST project of JST. His research interests include electronic and optical properties of widegap and/or layered materials, syntheses of novel oxide‐ or chalcogenide‐based materials, epitaxial growth and device application of novel materials, and unique physical properties of mixed anion materials. The article has been presented at the 15th International Conference on Ternary and Multinary Compounds in Kyoto, Japan, in 2006. Further papers from ICTMC‐15 are published in phys. stat. sol. (c) 3 , No. 8 (2006). The present issue of phys. stat. sol. (a) as well as phys. stat. sol. (c) 3 , No. 9 (2006) also contain papers presented at the Fourth International Conference on Magnetic and Superconducting Materials (MSM '05) held in Agadir, Morocco.