Self organized arrays of hexagonally arranged nanopores can form readily in oxide layers on anodized metal surfaces. The origin of this phenomenon has not found a satisfactory explanation. In the present work we seek a minimal model of the cellular automata type that could account for the occurence of this phenomenon and its dependence on the experimental conditions. The main ingredients of our model are;  a Laplacian field that represents an instable surface growth of the electrostatic type and surface smoothing jointly due tu interfacial tension and dissolution equilibrium at the layer surface. Our results show nanopore formation similar to certain experimental findings, However it is not as perfect as in some other experimental systems. Clearly the problem is a statistical noise introduced by our stochastic approach. We are working at present on an improved model that would reduce the noise level in the observed simulation results.

Computer simulation study of self organized nanopore formation in oxide layers on anodized metal surface

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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