Characterization of arrangement and geometry of porous anodic alumina formed by one-step anodization of Al-1 wt% Si thin films

•Nanoporous anodic oxide was formed on Al (2.6 μm)-1 wt% Si thin films on TiN/Si substrate.•Pore diameter and interpore distance increased linearly with voltage.•Better arrangement was for nanopores formed in phosphoric acid.

In the current work, porous anodic alumina (PAA) thin films have been fabricated from doped aluminum films, Al-1 wt% Si, using a one-step anodization method at room temperature. Two different electrolytes, namely, oxalic and phosphoric acids, have been utilized to obtain the PAA. A Fast Fourier transform based arrangement analysis for the obtained nanopores is reported. It is found that the nanoporous oxide layer is formed in Al-1 wt% Si with poor arrangement due to the poor spatial distribution of the nanopores, although they are in perfect circular shape. Moreover, the transient curves during the anodization, pore density, pore diameter, and interpore distance have been investigated.