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Modified black silicon ("pink") might lead to mass-produced photo detectors
July 23, 2009
Material with unique optoelectronic properties pushes the limits of silicon (Technology Review)
A material dubbed black silicon has shown great promise for making cheaper, more sensitive light detectors and imaging devices, while potentially taking advantage of established silicon manufacturing methods. But one of black silicon's key characteristics--a forest of microscopic cones that form on its surface and give the material its black color--may not be as important as it first appeared to be. The Harvard University researchers who first discovered black silicon are now studying a modified form of the material that has no cones but exhibits the same unique optoelectronic properties. Because of its faint coloring, the new stuff is nicknamed pink silicon, although it can barely be distinguished from a regular silicon wafer.