Fabrication of a meniscus microlens array made of anodic alumina by laser irradiation and electrochemical techniques

Kikuchi, Tatsuya; Wachi, Yuhta; Takahashi, Taka-aki; Sakairi, Masatoshi; Suzuki, Ryosuke O.

doi:10.1016/j.electacta.2013.02.020

Cited by 27 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…Barrier anodic oxide films and porous anodic oxide films on aluminum have been widely investigated by many researchers in the fields of surface finishing [1][2][3], electrolytic capacitor application [4][5][6], and micro-and nano-structure fabrication [7][8][9]. Recently, highly ordered anodic porous alumina with a cell size on the scale of 10-100 nm has been studied for potential use in various ordered-nanostructure applications [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-Ordering Behavior of Anodic Porous Alumina via Selenic Acid Anodizing

Kikuchi

Nishinaga

Natsui

et al. 2014

Electrochimica Acta

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The self-ordering behavior of anodic porous alumina that was formed by anodizing in selenic acid electrolyte (H 2 SeO 4 ) at various concentrations and voltages was investigated with SEM and AFM imaging. A high purity aluminum foil was anodized in 0.1-3.0 M selenic acid solutions at 273 K and at constant cell voltages in the range of 37 to 51 V. The regularity of the cell arrangement increased with increasing anodizing voltage and selenic acid concentration under conditions of steady oxide growth without burning. Anodizing at 42-46 V in 3.0 M selenic acid produced highly ordered porous alumina. By selective dissolution of the anodic porous alumina, highly ordered convex nanostructures of aluminum with diameters of 20 nm and heights of 40 nm were exposed at the apexes of each hexagonal dimple array. Highly ordered anodic porous alumina with a cell size of 102 nm from top to bottom can be fabricated by a two-step selenic acid anodizing process, that includes the first anodizing step, the selective oxide dissolution, and the second anodizing step.Key words: Aluminum; Anodizing; Anodic Porous Alumina; Selenic Acid IntroductionBarrier anodic oxide films and porous anodic oxide films on aluminum have been widely investigated by many researchers in the fields of surface finishing [1][2][3], electrolytic capacitor application [4][5][6], and micro-and nano-structure fabrication [7][8][9]. Recently, highly ordered anodic porous alumina with a cell size on the scale of 10-100 nm has been studied for potential use in various ordered-nanostructure applications [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. Anodic porous alumina is typically fabricated on an aluminum substrate using electrochemical anodizing (or anodization) [22][23][24][25][26]. In several acidic electrolyte solutions, the porous alumina fabricated by anodizing is self-ordered when prepared at the appropriate electrochemical conditions, including appropriate concentrations, temperatures, and voltages (or electrochemical potentials) [27][28][29][30] [50], and acetylenedicarboxylic (HOOC-C≡C-COOH) [51] acids have also been reported as electrolytes used to fabricate porous alumina that has characteristic nanostructure morphologies.In addition to these acidic electrolytes, alkaline and neutral solutions used for porous alumina fabrication were reported by several research groups. Takahashi et al. reported that a porous anodic oxide film could be formed by anodizing in an H 3 BO 3 /Na 2 B 4 O 7 neutral borate solution at a high temperature [52]. Baron-Wiechec et al. investigated aluminum anodizing in a borax (Na 2 B 4 O 7 ) solution at 333 K and successfully obtained porous alumina [53]. Noguchi et al. investigated the anodizing behavior of aluminum in propylenediamine and choline alkaline solutions containing ammonium fluoride, ammonium tartrate, ammonium carbonate, and ammonium tetraborate, and obtained anodic porous alumina with nanopores that were 10-150 nm in diameter [54]. However, it is difficult to form a highly ordered porous alumina by anodiz...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-Ordering Behavior of Anodic Porous Alumina via Selenic Acid Anodizing

Kikuchi

Nishinaga

Natsui

et al. 2014

Electrochimica Acta

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“…Porous anodic oxide films of aluminum (anodic porous alumina) have been widely investigated as nanotemplates and resist films with good insulating properties for various micro-and nano-technology applications, such as magnetic recording media [1,2], electronic devices [3], biosensors [4], photonic crystals [5][6][7], microlens arrays [8,9], plasmonic devices [10][11][12], three-dimensional microstructures [13][14][15] and other basic nanodevices [16]. When aluminum is anodized in appropriate acidic electrolytes, porous alumina develops, which exhibits a uniform array of hexagonal cells, each containing a uniform cylindrical nanopore at the center [17][18][19][20][21][22] (lower right in Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fabrication of Anodic Porous Alumina by Squaric Acid Anodizing

Kikuchi¹,

Yamamoto²,

Natsui³

et al. 2014

Electrochimica Acta

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The growth behavior of anodic porous alumina formed via anodizing in a new electrolyte, squaric acid (3,4-dihydroxy-3-cyclobutene-1,2-dione), is reported for the first time. A high-purity aluminum foil was anodized in a 0.1 M squaric acid solution at 293 K and a constant applied potential of 100-150 V. Anodic oxides grew on the aluminum foil at applied potentials of 100-120 V, but a burned oxide film was formed at higher voltage. Anodic porous alumina with a cell size of approximately 200-400 nm and sub-100-nm-scale pore diameter was successfully fabricated by anodizing in squaric acid. The cell size of the anodic oxide increased with anodizing time because of the uneven growth of the porous layer. The anodic porous alumina obtained by squaric acid anodizing consists of amorphous Al 2 O 3 containing 5-6 at% carbon from the electrolyte. Fig. 1). The morphology of anodic porous alumina, especially its cell size (identical meaning to interpore distance) and pore diameter in the porous layer, is limited by the electrolyte and voltage (electrochemical potential) applied during anodizing [23,24]. Fig. 1 summarizes the anodizing electrolytes that have been reported to date for porous alumina fabrication. Sulfuric (H 2 SO 4 ), oxalic ((COOH) 2 ), and phosphoric (H 3 PO 4 ) acids are well-known, self-ordering anodizing solutions for porous alumina fabrication, and highly ordered porous alumina can be obtained by anodizing in these solutions at constant voltages of 18-25 V, 40 V, and 160-195 V, respectively [24-29]. Malonic acid (HOOC-CH 2 -COOH) and tartaric acid (HOOC-(CHOH) 2 -COOH), typical dicarboxylic acids, have also been reported to support the fabrication of highly ordered porous alumina fabrication at 120 V and 195 V, respectively [30,31]. In addition, several other electrolytes, such as chromic (H 2 CrO 4 ) [32,33], malic (HOOC-CH(OH)-CH 2 -COOH) [23,34], citric (HOCO-CH 2 -C(OH)(COOH)-COOH)) [23], and glycolic (CH 2 OH-COOH) [23] acids, have been reported as anodizing electrolytes to date. However, the formation of thick porous alumina with straight nanopores by anodizing in chromic acid is difficult because of branching and colony-forming nanopores [35]. Although citric acid anodizing has already been used for nanostructure fabrication [36], other organic electrolytes, including malic and glycolic acid solutions, cause the formation of non-uniform anodic porous alumina [23,34]. Therefore, five self-ordering electrolytes, namely, sulfuric, oxalic, and phosphoric acids, are generally selected for anodic porous alumina fabrication by many researchers.In recent years, new anodizing procedures using an effective experimental approach and optimal anodizing conditions have been reported by several researchers to control the nano-scale features of anodic porous alumina. Lee et al. studied the rapid formation of ordered porous alumina by a hard anodizing procedure involving a powerful cooling stage and obtained an ultra-high aspect ratio (>1,000) of anodic porous alumina by anodizing in oxalic acid at 120-150...

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“…The sealing process causes the formation of a highly crystalline hydroxide layer on the surface of the anodic oxide, and the hydroxide layer is highly dissolution-resistant in acidic and alkaline solutions. Using these characteristic structural and chemical properties, anodic porous alumina has been widely investigated for many applications: antireflection structures [7,8], reflectors [9], memory devices [10], diodes [11], sensors [12], optical devices [13,14], nanocontainers [15], plasmonic devices [16], nano-templates [17,18], evaporation masks [19], catalyst supports [20], resist masks [21,22], and corrosion protection [23,24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fabrication of anodic porous alumina via anodizing in cyclic oxocarbon acids

Kikuchi

Nakajima

Kawashima

et al. 2014

Applied Surface Science

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The growth behavior of anodic porous alumina formed by anodizing in novel electrolyte solutions, the cyclic oxocarbon acids croconic and rhodizonic acid, was investigated for the first time. High-purity aluminum specimens were anodized in 0.1 M croconic and rhodizonic acid solutions at various constant current densities. An anodic porous alumina film with a cell size of 200-450 nm grew uniformly on an aluminum substrate by rhodizonic acid anodizing at 5-40 Am -2 , and a black, burned oxide was formed at higher current density. The cell size of the porous alumina increased with current density and corresponding anodizing voltage. Anodizing in croconic acid at 293 K caused the formation of thin anodic porous alumina films as well as black, thick burned oxides. The uniformity of the porous alumina improved by increasing the temperature of the croconic acid solution, and anodic porous alumina films with a uniform film thickness were successfully obtained. Our experimental results showed that the cyclic oxocarbon acids croconic and rhodizonic acid could be employed as a suitable electrolyte for the formation of anodic porous alumina films.Key words: Aluminum; Anodizing; Anodic Porous Alumina; Croconic Acid; Rhodizonic Acid IntroductionThe anodizing of aluminum in several different acidic solutions causes the formation of anodic porous alumina (i.e., porous anodic oxide film) with characteristic nanofeatures on aluminum substrates. Porous alumina consists of nano-scale hexagonal cells perpendicular to the substrate, and each cell possesses a nanopore at its center [1,2]. These cells are self-ordered by anodizing under appropriate electrochemical conditions, especially under a high electric field [3,4]. When anodic porous alumina is immersed in boiling distilled water after anodizing, the nanopores are filled by hydroxide (pore-sealing) [5,6]. The sealing process causes the formation of a highly crystalline hydroxide layer on the surface of the anodic oxide, and the hydroxide layer is highly dissolution-resistant in acidic and alkaline solutions. Using these characteristic structural and chemical properties, anodic porous alumina has been widely investigated for many applications: antireflection structures [7,8] [50] acid have been reported to date for the fabrication of anodic porous alumina. Oxalic and malonic acid anodizing have been reported to give rise to self-ordering behavior under suitable anodizing conditions. The organic and inorganic electrolytes used to fabricate anodic porous alumina possess low dissociation constant (pKa) in aqueous solution, except for glycolic and formic acid, are diacids or triacids. However, glycolic and formic acid form dimers via hydrogen bonding in aqueous solution and may behave like diacids [52,53]. The nanofeatures of anodic porous alumina, including cell size (i.e., interpore distance) and pore diameter, are limited by these electrolytes during anodizing. Therefore, the discovery of additional electrolytes is very important in expanding the applicability of porous alum...

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Fabrication of a meniscus microlens array made of anodic alumina by laser irradiation and electrochemical techniques

Cited by 27 publications

References 46 publications

Self-Ordering Behavior of Anodic Porous Alumina via Selenic Acid Anodizing

Self-Ordering Behavior of Anodic Porous Alumina via Selenic Acid Anodizing

Fabrication of Anodic Porous Alumina by Squaric Acid Anodizing

Fabrication of anodic porous alumina via anodizing in cyclic oxocarbon acids

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