Dr Abel Santos - Recent Developments in Optical Engineering of Nanoporous Anodic Alumina Photonic Crystals for Optical Sensing and Photocatalysis Applications

Since the introduction of the concept of photonic crystal (PC) by Yablonovitch and John in 1987, multiple theoretical implementations and technological realisations of PCs in the fields of imaging, quantum communication, photocatalysis and sensing have been demonstrated. Nanoporous anodic alumina (NAA) produced by anodisation of aluminium is an emerging platform material for developing multi-dimensional PC structures due to its well-established, cost-effective and industrially scalable fabrication process – compatible with conventional micro and nanofabrication – and its chemical resistance, thermal stability, mechanical robustness, highly controllable and versatile nanopore geometry, and optical properties. In this presentation, I will introduce recent advances in NAA–PC technology, including the development of high-quality forms of NAA-based PCs and their application in optical sensing and photocatalysis.