Laser-textured "black" silicon.

In-Q-Tel (IQT), the technology venture wing of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has signed a “strategic investment and technology development” agreement with the Harvard University photonics spin-out SiOnyx.

The deal, for an undisclosed amount, is designed to help SiOnyx accelerate the integration of its “black silicon” sensors within imaging systems, thereby offering imaging across the visible and short-wave infrared (SWIR) frequency ranges with low-cost devices based largely on the CMOS chip fabrication process.

Founded by Eric Mazur and James Carey from Harvard in 2006, SiOnyx is working to commercialize the “black silicon” technology, which is based on a laser texturing process that improves infrared response.

To read more: http://optics.org/news/3/8/14