Three-dimensionally designed anti-reflective silicon surfaces for perfect absorption of light

An ideal black material absorbs light perfectly over all wavelengths and is totally nonreflective. Material and structural design are crucial to the management of reflectivity. Here, we report a three-dimensionally designed (3D) silicon structure consisting of silicon pillars. To our knowledge, this 3D hierarchical surface has the lowest specular reflectance among silicon-based materials reported to date.