Black Silicon: This electron micrograph shows the pattern of cones left by SiOnyx’s femtosecond laser pulse. Shining an exceptionally powerful laser light — briefly matching the energy produced by the sun falling on the surface of the entire earth — on a regular silicon wafer (that is used for manufacturing semiconductors), also applying sulfur hexafluoride, a gas used by the semiconductor industry to make etchings for circuits, results in a silicon wafer that looks black to the naked eye. But when Dr. Mazur (the originator of this idea) and his researchers examined the material with an electron microscope, they discovered that the surface was covered with a forest of ultra-tiny spikes. The electron micrograph shows the pattern of cones left by SiOnyx’s femtosecond laser pulse. - Arunn