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Amber is a fossilized natural resin found in specific areas of the world; its geographical origin is associated to a characteristic color. Amber all over the world share basic characteristics due to a common polymeric matrix; however, its color is associated to the environment where it was formed. In this work, based on a compositional analysis, it is proposed that yellow color of Mexican amber is originated from the sulfur physical and chemical interaction within its polymeric matrix. The effect of sulfur present in yellow Mexican amber is studied by employing X-ray photoelectron and UV-Vis spectroscopies. Results show that sulfur is incorporated inside the polymer matrix with two different chemical environments; one related with sulfur-carbon bonds and the other with sulfur-sulfur bonds. The optical transmission spectrum simulated considering amber as a composite material reproduce the scattering contribution observed experimentally.

ZnSe layers of various thickness were grown on (001) GaAs substrates, using InxGa1-xAs or Al1-xGaxAs as buffer layers by molecular beam epitaxy and were studied by high-resolution x-ray diffraction. The principal structural characteristics of ZnSe layer and buffer layer were determined using several reflections, such as (004) and two pairs of coupled asymmetric reflections, namely (224), (-2-24) and (115) (-1-15). In order to evaluate their validity, the experimental data obtained from these reflections were handled by means of two known expressions found in the literature. We have found the relaxation process of ZnSe layers is well described by a geometrical model including the thermal strain and small strain due to work hardening. The relaxation process is faster for ZnSe grown on ternary buffer layers despite the fact that, some buffer layers are pseudomorphically grown to the substrate; therefore we conclude that not only the lattice mismatches have effect on the relaxation process but also the surface state of the buffer layer has an influence in this process.

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