Do you know that silicon has the ability to absorb light and produce electric current easily? Due to its specialty, silicon has widely being used for light sensors and solar cells.
However, there are about half of the light from the sun, especially red lights and most of the infrared light can be easily passed through silicon, where it gradually decrease the efficiency of solar cells!
For overcome this problem, SiOnyx, a brilliant company that based in Beverly, MA has developed a new type of dubbed black silicon, where it to be known can capture nearly all of the sun’s light! According to Stephen Saylor, a CEO of SiOnyx that the black silicon is like a sponge of light and it can generate hundreds of times more current than conventional silicon. Furthermore, this sturdy material makes it possible to use less silicon for light sensors and making the devices cheaper, smaller and lighter than ever before!
In the other hand, the material could also be used to make hypersensitive infrared detectors, which it’s kind of new breakthrough application for silicon. Infrared detectors, which are mostly being used in fiber-optic telecommunications, astronomy and security systems, are made of gallium arsenide that is difficult and expensive to process. With the black silicon, it will bring a new revolution to the whole technology and manufacturing industry! [source]
