This edited book presents the synthesis of the five materials systems mentioned
above and tries to explain the physical and chemical mechanisms of self-ordering. In
general, ordering is always due to repulsive or attractive forces between the pores leading
in two dimensions to the hexagonal lattice. In three dimensions, stacking can either lead to
the fcc or hcp lattice, but it is always a closed-packed configuration. These ordered porous
nanostructures are very attractive for template synthesis of nanowires or nanotubes or
in 3D even of more complex structures, and a number of examples of ordered porous
nanostructures are given in different chapters.
The last three chapters describe three very prominent areas of applications of
these materials: photonics, magnetic storage media and nano-electromechanical systems
(NEMS).