Electrochemical fabrication of arrayed alumina nanowires showing strong blue emission

. Arrayed alumina nanowires having controlled uniform diameters of 30–90 nm and lengths of 2–10 μm have been fabricated electrochemically with a high yield using two-step anodized aluminum oxide membranes as templates. The observed photoluminescence of the arrayed alumina nanowires arising from the emission of F + and F centers is strong and blue-shifted compared with that of porous alumina membranes due to the structural difference of Al 2 O 3 . Our synthesized alumina nanowires are also found to be chemically more stable than the templates.