Fabrication of ordered Au nanodot arrays utilizing anodic aluminum oxide templates formed on Si substrate

The authors have fabricated Au nanodot arrays using anodic aluminum oxide (AAO). Two types of AAO, namely, hexagonal and matrix pores, were used as a template for Au deposition. Au nanodots with a controlled size between 20 and 80 nm were obtained by changing the pore size in the AAO template. AAO templates of 200 nm thick were fabricated using two-step anodization. Al films of 150 nm thick grown on Si (100) substrates were indented using the nanoimprint method prior to the anodization for the matrix array of AAO. In addition, for smaller size pores, neutral beam etching was used to remove the barrier layer. The pore size was extracted from the image analysis to the images obtained by field emission secondary electron microscopy.