Fabrication of a tungsten master stamp using self-ordered porous alumina

We describe the preparation of a tungsten pillar nanoimprint stamp without the use of lithography and etching techniques. Structures with heights of 15 nm were prepared on the basis of self-ordered porous alumina templates and this was followed by DC sputtering of tungsten. The stamp was successfully used to prepare an aluminium surface to obtain highly ordered porous anodic alumina films after a single anodization step. The preparation efficiency for highly ordered porous alumina was dramatically improved as compared to the more conventional two-step anodization–strip-anodization method, as a sacrificial layer with a thickness of a few hundred micrometres was not required. In addition, by fractal calculations, we have evaluated the degree of ordering of the asperities on the nanoimprint master stamp. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)