Preparation and phase transformation of highly ordered TiO2 nanodot arrays on sapphire substrates

Ordered nanodot arrays of titanium oxide (TiO2) were prepared from an epitaxial Al/TiN bilayered film on a sapphire substrate by electrochemical anodization of the TiN layer using a nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) film as the template. The nanodots with an average diameter of about 60 nm can faithfully duplicate the size, shape, and hexagonal pore pattern of the AAO nanopores. The phase development of the isolated TiO2 nanodots is very much different from TiO2 thin films and powders. After high temperature annealing, the nanodots are polycrystalline and consist of a mixed phase of anatase and rutile instead of single rutile phase. We expect that TiO2 nanodots with a single phase of anatase can be realized as long as the size of the nanodots is smaller than the critical nuclei size for rutile formation. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.