Blackest material ever created. Again.

Eduard Driessen, MSc, and Dr Michiel de Dood's new paper in Applied Physics Letters identifies a new contender for the blackest material that ever existed. No word on whether it's any blacker than the last three Spinal-Tap-joke-inspiring none-more-black materials we've covered here since 2003.

Two researchers, Eduard Driessen, MSc, and Dr Michiel de Dood, have demonstrated that at a thickness of 4.5 nanometer niobiumnitride (NbN) is ultra-absorbent. They have recorded a light absorption of almost 100%, while the best light absorption to date was 50%. This research brings the ideal light detector a step closer.

Blackest Black Ever: Ultra-thin Material Absorbs Almost 100% Of Light (Image: Blue'n'black, a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike photo from szeretlek_ma's Flickr stream)

[#1 posted by jfrancis, July 2, 2009 1:12 AM]

When I was in college there was this guy who moped around a lot, so I dubbed him 'Melancholy Man.' I used to explain that the source of his power was a material called (I forget the name I gave it) but it had the characteristic of being the saddest substance in the universe.

[#2 posted by Soptor, July 2, 2009 2:15 AM]

In Dutch, "De Dood" means "Death". It seems Dr. Michiel de Dood was born to be black.

[#3 posted by cha0tic, July 2, 2009 3:19 AM]

When can I get this stuff made into Jeans and a T-shirt?

[#4 posted by AKMA, July 2, 2009 3:46 AM]

Did Spinal Tap have a "black stuff" joke too, or are you confusing ST with Disaster Area, the band from Douglas Adams's Restaurant at the End of the Uiverse -- who commissioned a stunt ship that was so black that you couldn't feel it.

"It's so ... black!" said Ford Prefect, "you can hardly make out its shape ... light just seems to fall into it!"
Zaphod said nothing. He had simply fallen in love.
The blackness of it was so extreme that it was almost impossible to tell how close you were standing to it.
"Your eyes just slide off it ..." said Ford in wonder. It was an emotional moment. He bit his lip.

[#5 posted by Ugly Canuck, July 2, 2009 4:09 AM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjoeLpVCNr0&feature=related

[#6 posted by IT_Kraut, July 2, 2009 4:31 AM]

@akma: see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeGteg74mjw (at about 3:50 into the video)

[#7 posted by IT_Kraut, July 2, 2009 4:31 AM]

@akma: see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeGteg74mjw (at about 3:50 into the video)

[#8 posted by Anonymous, July 2, 2009 4:41 AM]

Fuligin, anyone?

[#9 posted by Opspin, July 2, 2009 4:55 AM]

"I only wear black until they invent a darker colour!"

[#10 posted by Anonymous, July 2, 2009 5:02 AM]

Perhaps someone will use it for an album cover

[#11 posted by AKMA, July 2, 2009 5:26 AM]

Ah, good! It's been a while since I've seen Spinal Tap, whereas I listen to the radioplay of HHGG regularly. "That ... is really bad for the eyes ..."

[#12 posted by Abracapocus, July 2, 2009 6:44 AM]

Does this mean I can finally get that fuligin cloak I've always wanted?

[#13 posted by TheCrawNotTheCraw, July 2, 2009 7:49 AM]

Then there was the person a few years ago who said, "Gray is the new Black."

[#14 posted by meowfaceman, July 2, 2009 8:19 AM]

@abracapocus: Yes, but they're still working on the perfect memory and bad ass sword.

[#15 posted by Anonymous, July 2, 2009 8:46 AM]

If this substance is a good heat conductor, it would mean something great for solar thermal collectors.

I would think it might have some interesting uses in optics as well.

[#16 posted by oasisob1, July 2, 2009 9:46 AM]

bad ass sword?
bad pass word?

[#17 posted by Strophe, July 2, 2009 11:11 AM]

@8, 14:

I clicked through to this article wondering if the duty of making a Gene Wolfe reference was going to fall to me.

Promotions for both of you.

[#18 posted by jphilby, July 2, 2009 11:29 AM]

Could Wall Street be considered a material??

[#19 posted by Daemon, July 2, 2009 11:32 AM]

But can it be made into cloth for use in ninja costumes?

[#20 posted by Anonymous, July 2, 2009 1:06 PM]

A little boy asked his mother "Is there a color darker than black?"

His mother said "No, black is the darkest color there is." Thinking a moment, she said "Why do you ask?"

The boy said "Well if there was a color darker than black, I would paint the whole bathroom in that color. Then put in black fixtures to brighten it up."

(I have no idea why a little boy would think about bathroom remodeling, but that's the way the joke was told to me, so pass it along the same way.)

[#21 posted by Cazart, July 2, 2009 1:45 PM]

Blacker than the blackest black...times infinity.

[#22 posted by Axx, July 2, 2009 2:04 PM]

+1000000 points for all Gene Wolfe references. (I *just* started second half of the New Sun series)