Open AccessAl 2 O 3 and Sn/Al 2 O 3 nanowires: fabrication and characterisation
Author(s) -
Shaban Mohamed,
Ali Mona,
AbdelHady Kamal,
Hamdy Hany
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
micro and nano letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.25
H-Index - 31
ISSN - 1750-0443
DOI - 10.1049/mnl.2015.0068
Subject(s) - materials science , scanning electron microscope , etching (microfabrication) , nanowire , analytical chemistry (journal) , anodizing , optoelectronics , nanotechnology , aluminium , chemistry , layer (electronics) , chromatography , metallurgy , composite material
Self‐ordered anodised aluminium oxide membranes can be used as a base for the growth of different nanoarrays. In this reported work, an efficient and effective method is implemented to fabricate highly ordered alumina nanowires (ANWs) covered with a uniform shell of 12 ± 2 nm Sn nanoparticles (Sn/ANWs). A two‐step anodisation process followed by a selective etching process was used to prepare highly ordered ANWs with diameters smaller than 36 nm. The thermal evaporation technique was used to ensure the deposition of a Sn nanoshell on the fabricated nanowires. The fabricated nanostructures were characterised by energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, field emission‐scanning electron microscopy and an ultraviolet–visible–near‐infrared spectrophotometer. Analysis of the scanning electron microscopy images showed that the etching rate is 0.73 nm/min and ANWs are obtained after etching the membrane for 110 min. The measured reflection spectra revealed that Sn/ANWs exhibit a redshift of the UV absorption band relative to the ANWs and a reflectance of nearly 100% in the near‐infrared region. For optical comparison, glass slides were coated with Sn under the same conditions for 90 and 120 s. The reflection spectrum of the 120 s Sn‐coated glass slide shows three modes at 210, 296 and 700 nm because of the excitation and interference of plasmonic waves.