Black silicon: vastly more light-sensitive, good for solar cells etc
Put this stuff on your “tech to watch” list along with magnetic batteries, liquid lenses, and all this stuff. This “black silicon” was ordinary until it was blasted by an incredibly high-powered laser. It’s kind of like a superhero origin story, only in this case he ends up covered in microscopic spikes that (I’m guessing) multiply the surface area exposable to light by a huge amount compared with a flat surface increase concentration of the dopant (sulfur) on the surface [thanks, Medford]. That’s all well and good, you say, but what good does it do me, sir?
If you’re interested, there’s a lot — a lot — of good information, well presented, at the SiOnyx website.
[via CleanTechnica]