A technique for the fabrication of thin porous firms of anodic alumina on a rigid glass substrate is reported. This nanoporous material is the starting point for the development of high density (10(8) cm(-2)) field emitter arrays (FEAs) that have already been proven using fragile alumina membranes. A merging of these two technologies is proposed, to facilitate the production of robust, high density, large area FEAs without recourse to step and repeat lithography at the micron scale.