Simple approach for improving gold deposition inside nanoporous alumina template on Si substrate

• Published in: Applied surface science 2014-06, Vol.305, p.9-15
• Main Authors: Nguyen, Van Hoang, Hoshi, Yusuke, Usami, Noritaka
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anodic Al oxide; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Gold plating; Physics; Si nanowires; Vapor–liquid–solid
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2014.02.103

•This study aims to improve metallic deposition inside AAO on Si substrate.•This approach considers the control of the adhesion of Al on Si substrate.•Insertion of 10nm-thick Al thin film at low deposition rate is critical point.•The surface coverage of deposited Au reached 80%.•The TEM images show the independent Au inside each nanochannels. We report on a simple approach for enhancing gold plating deposition inside the nanochannels of anodic Al oxide (AAO) on a Si substrate. The key to the approach is to insert an Al thin film deposited at a low deposition rate before further thickening the film by sputtering deposition. The deposition of only a 10nm-thick Al film at a low deposition rate was found to be sufficient to improve the gold deposition with a given gold-plating solution. This was evidenced by the increase in the plating current during gold plating as well as the increase in the surface coverage of deposited gold to as high as 80%. The resultant AAO with plated gold segments is expected to be useful for vapor–liquid–solid techniques of fabricating nanowires guided by pores.