Controllable fabrication of highly ordered thin AAO template on Si substrate for electrodeposition of nanostructures

In this work, simple fabrication of hexagonally highly ordered porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) of Al thin film (1 μm) on Si substrate is described using two-step anodization method for electrochemical synthesis of nanostructures. In this method, the templates were prepared under the controllable conditions of the parameters, which give rise to the possibility of highly ordered nanopore arrays with a well aspect ratio. Pore widening was then fulfilled in 5 wt% phosphoric acid solution at 25 °C. The pore diameter and spacing are proportional to the applied voltage, which is due to the mechanical stress associated with the volume expansion of the aluminum during the anodization according to the mechanical stress model. Pore-widening solution adjusted the pore diameter and thinned the AAO barrier layer at room temperature under the control of etching time. As an application, Cu nanorods arrays embedded in anodic alumina (AAO) template were fabricated by dc electrodeposition. The characterization of the AAO templates and the Cu nanorods produced was made by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning microscope, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and atomic force microscope (AFM). The images of AFM show that porous AAO template under constant voltage is 40 V which presents the optimum ordering.