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Multiple nanostructures based on anodized aluminium oxide templates

Nature Nanotechnology volume 12, pages 244–250 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

Several physico-chemical effects and properties in the solid state involve nanoscale interactions between adjacent materials and morphologies. Arrays of binary nanostructures can generate intimate interactions between different sub-components, but fabricating binary nanostructures is challenging. Here, we propose a concept to achieve diverse binary nanostructure arrays with high degrees of controllability for each of the sub-components, including material, dimension and morphology. This binary nanostructuring concept originates with a distinctive binary-pore anodized aluminium oxide template that includes two dissimilar sets of pores in one matrix, where the openings of the two sets of pores are towards opposite sides of the template. Using the same growth mechanism, the binary-pore template can be extended to multi-pore templates with more geometrical options. We also present photoelectrodes, transistors and plasmonic devices made with our binary nanostructure arrays using different combination of materials and morphologies, and demonstrate superior performances compared to their single-component counterparts.

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Figure 1: Binary-pore template.
Figure 2: Representative binary nanostructure arrays.
Figure 3: Formation of binary-pore structure.
Figure 4: Evolution of binary-pore template.
Figure 5: Use of binary nanostructure arrays for photoelectodes and plasmonic substrates.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by a European Research Council Grant (ThreeDSurface 240144), a European Research Council PoC Grant (HiNaPc, 737616), the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Germany (BMBF: ZIK-3DNano-Device, 03Z1MN11) and the German Research Foundation (DFG, LE 2249_4–1). The authors thank R. Henry for help with FIB milling and TEM imaging, and S. H. Si and M. Breiter for help with the RIE process. The authors thank T. Hannappel for use of multi-tip scanning tunnelling microscopy equipment. The authors also thank Z. J. Wang, H. P. Zhao, D. W. Cao and M. Sommerfeld for technical support and discussions.

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  1. Rui Xu and Yan Mi: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physics & IMN Macro Nanos (ZIK), Ilmenau University of Technology, Unterpörlitzer Strasse 38, Ilmenau, 98693, Germany

    Liaoyong Wen, Rui Xu, Yan Mi & Yong Lei

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  1. Liaoyong Wen
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Contributions

L.W. and Y.L. conceived the concept. Y.L. supervised the project. L.W., R.X. and Y.M. prepared the materials, conducted the experiments and collected the data. L.W. analysed the date. L.W and Y.L. wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yong Lei.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Wen, L., Xu, R., Mi, Y. et al. Multiple nanostructures based on anodized aluminium oxide templates. Nature Nanotech 12, 244–250 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2016.257

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