Increasing light absorption in ultra-thin film semiconductors is problem of active research in the photovoltaic and PCA communities. Electrodes with integrated plasmonic structures have been fabricated to trap light in the near-field volume of the semiconductors for both applications. The resonance traps a significant fraction of the laser intensity in a region near the interface of the plasmonic array and semiconductor, facilitating higher absorption and resulting photocurrent. Plasmonic structures are intrinsically lossy, however, and can induce deleterious effects on the resistivity in the semiconductor absorber layer. The Au typically used for these plasmonic arrays can also potentially absorb the generated THz radiation. An alternative approach is to add texture to the interface that scatters light into the extended dimensions of the thin-film absorber, increasing the effective thickness while avoiding the losses associated with metallic overlayers. Precise dielectric metamaterial layers fabricated by electron beam lithography have demonstrated near unity absorptivity in a 200 nm GaAs layer in a PCA device. Self-assembled monolayers of chemically synthesized, monodisperse silica or polymer nanospheres can be deposited on the surface of the light absorber to induce light scattering or even generate transverse resonances. This approach has been used to enhance light absorption and resulting photocurrents in nanometer-thin photovoltaics. The advantage of this method over more precise photonic structures is that the structure can be fabricated by simple, scalable methods while tailoring the resonances to the targeted wavelengths of interest to the application. The quality of the resonances depends on the monodispersity of the nanospheres in the layer and the refractive index contrast generated by the nanostructure. Silica and polymer nanospheres can be controllably prepared as monodisperse sols and can therefore self-assemble into periodic, closepacked layers. However, the index of refraction of organic polymers and silica (n = 1.4-1.5 for visible-NIR wavelengths for each) limits the achievable dielectric contrast with air or other interfacial materials. Contrarily, optically transparent dielectrics with higher refractive indices such as alumina (n = 1.8), zinc oxide (n = 2.0), and titania (n = 2.5-2.8) have no known chemical syntheses for preparing monodisperse nanospheres.