Resumen
Intermediate-band silicon material that comprises a variety of silicon, such as a clathrate, whether amorphous or nanostructured type, the bandgap of which is increased to a value in the range between 1.7 and 2.5 eV, and wherein the intermediate band is formed by means of the interstitial or substitutional inclusion, in said variety of silicon, of light transition elements selected from Groups 4-11 of the Periodic Table, which provide partially occupied electronic bands within the bandgap such that an intermediate band is formed in said variety of silicon, thereby constituting a material for use as a light absorbent in photovoltaic conversion devices, as a light absorbent in photocatalytic or photoelectrochemical systems, for photon up-conversion or down-conversion applications or for applications in spintronics or in radiation-detection devices.