Characterization of metal nanoparticles fabricated in ordered array pores of anodic porous alumina by electron-beam-induced selective deposition

The ordered arrays of Au nanoparticles were fabricated by electron-beam-induced selective deposition process in an ordered pore arrays of anodic porous alumina membrane. The microstructure of the as-deposited nanoparticles was characterized using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and microdiffraction technique. It was determined that the as-deposited nanoparticles consisted of many nanocrystallites of Au metal. The size of these nanocrystallites in the as-deposited nanoparticles was smaller than 5 nm.