A surface appears black when practically no light is reflected, but all the colors of the incident light are absorbed. In the past, photographers used to crawl under the black focusing cloth on their camera to keep ambient light away from the sensitive photographic plate. Even today, black surfaces are used to capture light: In optics laboratories, for example, black coatings minimize disturbing stray light when using lasers in optical setups.
But black is not just black. Scientists from the Leibniz IPHT cleanroom have succeeded in producing black layers that surpass the absorption properties of all previously available thin-film solutions. The black from the cleanroom is demonstrably blacker than the blackest black, which holds the world record in the Guinness Book of Records.
In the experiments on offer, you will find out which properties make the blackest black so special and what it can be used for in the future.