{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T02:05:26Z","timestamp":1791165926576,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"13","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782950400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Materials"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Quartz is widely employed in optoelectronic and sensing applications owing to its excellent mechanical and chemical properties. However, its intrinsic transparency up to 5 \u03bcm limits its direct use as a photodetection substrate across the near- and mid-infrared spectral regions. Laser surface texturing for the fabrication of the so-called black quartz represents a promising strategy to overcome this limitation. In this work, different femtosecond (fs) laser texturing strategies were investigated on a 1 mm thick \u03b1-quartz wafer, namely uniform milling, grid-patterned grooves, and localized arrays of ablated craters. The fs-laser-treated quartz samples showed a transmittance reduction of up to 60% within the quartz transparency window in the infrared range, with crater matrices providing the most effective blackening performance. The enhanced absorption was attributed to light-trapping effects induced by the tapered crater geometry, which promotes multiple internal reflections and increased optical confinement within the substrate. The proposed strategy demonstrates a reliable, maskless, and chemical-free surface functionalization strategy for the fabrication of quartz-based substrates for broadband infrared photodetection in sensing applications.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ma19132810","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T11:48:32Z","timestamp":1782992912000},"page":"2810","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Enhancing Quartz Infrared Absorption by Tuning Femtosecond Laser Surface Texturing Patterns"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-4262-4109","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Isabella","family":"Petruzzellis","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Chemistry Department, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3563-2206","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Raffaele","family":"De Palo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physics Department, Politecnico di Bari, Via Amendola 173, 70125 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1875-4671","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Zifarelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physics Department, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Bari, Via Amendola 173, 70125 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pietro","family":"Patimisco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physics Department, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Bari, Via Amendola 173, 70125 Bari, Italy"},{"name":"PolySense Innovations srl, Via Amendola 173, 70125 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-7775-9970","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Felice Alberto","family":"Sfregola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physics Department, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Bari, Via Amendola 173, 70125 Bari, Italy"},{"name":"Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN), National Research Council, Via Amendola 173, 70125 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-2535-6754","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefania","family":"Caragnano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physics Department, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Bari, Via Amendola 173, 70125 Bari, Italy"},{"name":"Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN), National Research Council, Via Amendola 173, 70125 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3964-2580","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Caterina","family":"Gaudiuso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN), National Research Council, Via Amendola 173, 70125 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9205-3940","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesco Paolo","family":"Mezzapesa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN), National Research Council, Via Amendola 173, 70125 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4867-8166","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vincenzo","family":"Spagnolo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physics Department, Politecnico di Bari, Via Amendola 173, 70125 Bari, Italy"},{"name":"PolySense Innovations srl, Via Amendola 173, 70125 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6247-5429","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonio","family":"Ancona","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physics Department, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Bari, Via Amendola 173, 70125 Bari, Italy"},{"name":"Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN), National Research Council, Via Amendola 173, 70125 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6959-5418","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Annalisa","family":"Volpe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physics Department, Politecnico di Bari, Via Amendola 173, 70125 Bari, Italy"},{"name":"Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN), National Research Council, Via Amendola 173, 70125 Bari, 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