Citation:
C. Wu, C. H. Crouch, L. Zhao, J. E. Carey, R. J. Younkin, J. A. Levinson, E. Mazur, R. M. Farrel, P. Gothoskar, and A. Karger. 2001. “Near-unity below-band gap absorption by microstructured silicon.” Appl. Phys. Lett., 78, Pp. 1850–1852. Publisher's Version
Abstract:
We increased the absorptance of light by silicon to approximately 90% from the near ultraviolet (0.25 m) to the near infrared (2.5 m) by surface microstructuring using laser-chemical etching. The remarkable absorptance most likely comes from a high density of impurities and structural defects in the silicon lattice, enhanced by surface texturing. Microstructured avalanche photodiodes show significant enhancement of below-band gap photocurrent generation at 1.06 and 1.31 m, indicating promise for use in infrared photodetectors.See also: Optical hyperdoping: black silicon