Abstract
A brief review of some applications of nanotechnology to information storage is given with the focus on self-assembled nanoporous alumina templates for patterned media. Ordered nanoporous alumina templates were fabricated by self-assembly technology. A two-step anodization process was also carried out to obtain templates with straight pores without removing the aluminum and barrier layer. Polycrystalline structure was observed with a grain size of about two micrometers in which the pores were almost perfect hexagonally ordered. The pore arrays exhibit different orientation along the boundaries of neighboring grains. Nanopatterning implemented by electron-beam lithography demonstrates a potential for writing concentric circular patterns with linewidths as small as 30nm.
