Abstract
•Highly ordered hexagonal pore arrays of the AAO templates are fabricated of thin Al film on Si substrate.•The difference between first and second anodization is investigated by in situ monitoring the current–time curve.•We report a fast and simple procedure to remove the bottom barrier layer of the AAO template.•ZnO nanorod arrays embedded in the AAO template are prepared by electrodeposition.•Efficient photoluminescence on ZnO/AAO assembly are investigated.
In this study, anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates of Aluminum thin films onto Ti-coated silicon substrates were prepared for growth of nanostructure materials. Hexagonally highly ordered thin AAO templates were fabricated under controllable conditions by using a two-step anodization. The obtained thin AAO templates were approximately 70nm in pore diameter and 250nm in length with 110nm interpore distances within an area of 3cm2. The difference between first and second anodization was investigated in details by in situ monitoring of current–time curve. A bottom barrier layer of the AAO templates was removed during dropping the voltage in the last period of the anodization process followed by a wet etching using phosphoric acid (5wt%) for several minutes at ambient temperature. As an application, Zn nanorod arrays embedded in anodic alumina (AAO) template were fabricated by electrodeposition. Oxygen was used to oxidize the electrodeposited Zn nanorods in the AAO template at 700°C. The morphology, structure and photoluminescence properties of ZnO/AAO assembly were analyzed using Field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Atomic force microscope (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL).