Preparation of Ni nanodot and nanowire arrays using porous alumina on silicon as a template without a conductive interlayer

Recently, many nanostructures have been prepared successfully through electrodeposition of materials into anodic porous alumina coated with a conductive layer on the bottom. Here, the fabrication of Ni nanostructures using anodic porous alumina on Si as a template without a conductive interlayer is investigated. Morphologies of Ni nanostructures were dominated by the applied voltages and an excellent replication capability for this method was revealed. The novel electrodeposition behavior in this study is quite different from the "bottom-up'' electrodeposition in conventional template-mediated growth of materials. (C) 2004 The Electrochemical Society.