Optical characterization of micropatterned anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) using UV light for its fluorescence applications

This paper reports the optical characterization of the micropatterned anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) using UV light irradiance for the first time. It has been demonstrated that the AAO has blue emission under UV light irradiance. The intensity of the blue emission increases with the increased anodization time, due to the increased amounts of AAO formation and the increased density of the formed oxygen vacancies in AAO. The blue emission becomes saturated when all Al has been anodized to be AAO. This technique provides a simple and rapid way to determine if the AAO has been formed from Al and the level of AAO formation, particularly useful for the determination of AAO formed in the Al micropatterns.