The tiny silicon wires stick up from the base,or substrate, looking something like a microscopic hair brush.
VOA: standard.2010.02.19
Suntech Power is currently pursuing thin film technology, a low cost PV technology that involves depositing several thin layers of silicon or more complex materials on a substrate such as glass to make a PV cell.
Recently a company from Utah called Millenniata has introduced an optical disc technology utilizing a disc in which the data is etched (or engraved) into a ceramic substrate rather than stamped on plastic like conventional optical discs.
This ceramic substrate will not react with oxygen or moisture and is not damaged by temperatures that would significantly warp a conventional plastic optical disc.