Accident means better technology could be on the way

Black silicon under a microscope.

A new type of material, accidentally discovered in a Harvard physics laboratory, could lead to an improvement in electrical devices such as digital cameras.

Black silicon is the material that has got people talking and the group who discovered it are now trying to commercialise it.

Black silicon is between 100 and 500 times more sensitive to light - including infra-red and SiOnyx are hoping their 11 million dollar venture will firstly help with night vision. Later on they hope to improve digital cameras and maybe even solar cells.

Nearly all imaging, communication and solar energy equipment use photonic devices to transform light into electrical signals so this discovery is an important invention.

The discovery was made when a research group at Harvard used a powerful laser on a silicon wafer and added sulfur hexafluoride to it. When the silicon was looked at under a microscope it was found to be covered in tiny spikes. When light is focused on the black silicon the black spikes bounce the light back and forth and most of the light never comes back out.

The team were quick to realise that the new silicon could be used as a solar cell as it will be able to convert light to electricity a lot faster than any other product can.

On the college's website Mazur, Harvard College Professor said: "Apart from serendipitously making something beautiful and unexpected, we're getting bombarded with queries from industry about its many practical applications."

SiOnyx have already commercialised sensor-based chips as a technology development platform for other companies and for use in next-generation infra-red imaging systems. But they do hope that the low costs and high sensitivity of black silicon will mean it could be a big contender in the digital camera market which is already dominated by silicon.

For more infomration go to the SiOnyx site.