Asymmetric light reflectance effect in AAO on glass

Asymmetric light reflectance effect was observed in an anodic aluminum oxide on glass structure. The transmitted light from two sides of the films show the same colors, whereas the reflected light from two sides show complementary colors. The spectra analysis demonstrates that this asymmetric light reflectance effect can be ascribed to the asymmetric geometric structure of nanoscale aluminum networks. This effect may result in applications in many fields, especially in optical communication. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America