An alternative approach for femtosecond laser induced black silicon in ambient air is proposed, in which, black silicon is fabricated on a tellurium coated silicon substrate via femtosecond laser irradiation in ambient air, and selectively etching with hydrofluoric acid is employed to remove the incorporated oxygen. Results of energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis and absorption measurement show that oxygen is effectively eliminated via etching, and the optical absorption of the black silicon is enhanced. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.