London - British scientists have come up with the blackest surface ever, an invention that could help with spacecraft navigation and the manufacture of optical instruments.

The material found by the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, London, reflects 10 to 20 times less light than the black paint used to reduce unwanted reflections in current instruments, according to the latest edition of New Scientist magazine.

The key to the nickel and phosphorus coating's blackness is that its surface is pitted with microscopic craters.

It is especially effective at absorbing light which hits it at an angle.

'It's like black velvet'

With the light source at right angles, the coating reflects less than 0,35 percent, by comparison with black paint, which reflects about 2,5 percent, or seven times more.

One of the early applications might be on star-trackers, which are navigational aids that help spacecraft to stay on course by fixing on pinpricks of light in the heavens.
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• This article was originally published on page 4 of The Star on February 07, 2003