Fabrication of ordered nanoporous anodic alumina prepatterned by mold-assisted chemical etching
1 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan
2 Department of Materials Science, National University of Tainan, Tainan 700, Taiwan
Nanoscale Research Letters 2011, 6:157 doi:10.1186/1556-276X-6-157Published: 21 February 2011
In this article, a simple and cost-effective method to create patterned nanoindentations on Al surface via mold-assisted chemical etching process is demonstrated. This report shows the reaction-diffusion method which formed nanoscale shallow etch pits by the absorption/liberation behaviors of chemical etchant in poly(dimethylsiloxane) stamp. During subsequent anodization, it was possible to obtain the ordered nanopore arrays with 277 nm pitch that were guided by the prepatterned etch pits. The prepatterned etch pits obtained can guide the growth of AAO nanopores during anodization and facilitate the preparation of ordered nanopore arrays.