Compensating the Degradation of Near-Infrared Absorption of Black Silicon Caused by Thermal Annealing.

We propose the use of thin Ag film deposition to remedy the degradation of near-infrared (NIR) absorption of black Si caused by high-temperature thermal annealing. A large amount of random and irregular Ag nanoparticles are formed on the microstructural surface of black Si after Ag film deposition, which compensates the degradation of NIR absorption of black Si caused by thermal annealing. The formation of Ag nanoparticles and their contributions to NIR absorption of black Si are discussed in detail.