Governed by diffusion and reaction kinetics, regular nano-porous oxide layers with embedded metal oxide nano-particles are formed. To facilitate this process, metals are evaporated through ultra-thin alumina membranes (UTAMs) onto Si substrates, followed by a well-controlled oxidation process. The structural parameters of the oxide layers such as the layer thickness and the pore depth are tailorable. Furthermore the growth mechanism of the composite system is described by a theoretical model. This versatile synthesis method shows potential to become a general fabrication strategy to realize nano-porous surface structures with embedded nano-particles of different materials for various purposes from fundamental studies to technical applications. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.