Nanocone array glass

We report a novel method of producing ordered arrays of glass nanocones with precisely controlled height, lattice constant and aspect ratio. As with nanochannel glass, fibre drawing, bundling and redrawing are used to produce structured glass composite material. The surface of the composite is etched to form nanocones through a differential etching process. The lattice constant of the arrays ranges from 40 mu m to 1.6 mu m, while the aspect ratio of the nanocones is varied from 0.4 to 13 by simple changes in the chemistry of the hydrofluoric acid etching solution.