Black silicon: engineering an intermediate band in silicon for photovoltaic applications

Shining intense, ultrashort laser pulses on the surface of a crystalline silicon wafer drastically changes the optical, material and electronic properties of the wafer. The resulting textured surface is highly absorbing and looks black to the eye. The properties of this 'black silicon' make it useful for a wide range of commercial devices, from highly-sensitive PIN photodetectors to photovoltaics.