SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CDS PARTICLES WITHIN A NANOPOROUS ALUMINUM-OXIDE TEMPLATE

Anodically grown porous aluminum oxide was used as a template in which to study the growth of CdS. The pores in this template are cylinders 50 nm in diameter by 30 mu m in length. CdS was grown from aqueous sol utions by a U-tube method where reagents entered the pores from opposi te ends. The resulting semiconductor particles' size, shape, crystalli nity, composition, and optical properties were characterized by transm ission electron microscopy (TEM), electron diffraction, energy dispers ive X-ray microanalysis (EDX), and UV-visible spectroscopy. Polycrysta lline oval particles with sizes on the order of tens of nanometers for med within the pores of the template. These particles did not extend t hroughout the entire pore but grew in only one area of the pore. The s tructures, size distributions, and possible mechanisms for the formati on of these nanoclusters is discussed. (C) 1997 Acta Metallurgica Inc.