High photoconductive gain and broad spectral sensitivity enabled by femtosecond laser doping of silicon

Femtosecond laser doping of silicon produces near-unity absorption from the ultraviolet to the short wave infrared. The resulting ‘black silicon’ has great potential for applications in photoactive devices. We have successfully incorporated black silicon into new silicon devices with unique characteristics including: high efficiency, room-temperature photoconductive gain, broad-spectral silicon photodetection, and enhanced near-infrared photovoltaic response. We present the current state of the research and discuss the potential for this processing technique to develop other new materials.