Bending and branching of anodic aluminum oxide nanochannels and their applications
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2012-05-07
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AIP Publishing
Abstract
During fabrication of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes, it is observed that sometimes their nanochannels experience bending and branching. In this research the bending and branching behavior of AAO nanochannels was studied. AAO nanochannels were fabricated in 99.56% pure aluminum (Al) in which Si and Fe impurities blocked the propagation of some nanochannels. It was observed that the neighboring channels bend and make branches for anodizing the Al beneath impurities. The authors developed a model that explains the bending and branching of AAO nanochannels. Our experiments show that AAO nanochannel can bend and divide into branches if it experiences nonanodized Al on one side of the nanochannel. Bending and branching effects were also observed when AAO was fabricated using Al with nonplanar surfaces. The authors found that the bending and branching behavior of AAO nanochannels minimizes impurity defects in the AAO membrane. Based on experimental results, a model has been developed for making 3D structure using AAO nanochannels.
Description
In this research we studied the bending and branching nature of AAO nanochannels. Nonlinear AAO nanochannels have been fabricated with planar and nonplanar surfaces using 99.56% pure Al by MA. Our practical results explain how AAO nanochannels bend and make branches. Based on practical results we propose a model for making a 3D structure using nonlinear AAO nanochannels. Our experiments and model allow us to predict in which direction the nanochannels should bend and when they will divide into branches.
Keywords
Bending and branching, AAO-AAO, membrane, nanochannel
Citation
Kasi, A. K., et al. (2012). "Bending and branching of anodic aluminum oxide nanochannels and their applications." Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, Nanotechnology and Microelectronics: Materials, Processing, Measurement, and Phenomena 30(3): 031805.