Color-tuning method by filling porous alumina membrane using atomic layer deposition based on metal-dielectric-metal structure

A novel and convenient color-tuning method by filling the porous alumina membrane (PAM) based on metal-dielectric-metal structure is proposed. The pore sizes of PAM as well as the thickness of TiO2 films, deposited by atomic layer deposition, causes various reflection colors due to multilayer interference effects. Overlapping films on top and within the PAM structure can be observed with a scanning electron microscope and will be used to show the change of the effective refractive index of the PAM composite layer. The color-tuning method resulting in changing the dynamics of the PAM layer can be widely applied in fields such as micro-optics, microstructures, nanomaterials, and micro/nanotechnology. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America