Abstract: Porous anodic alumina membrane is an ideal template for highly ordered nanomaterials because its good ordering, high temperature resistance, low cost, uniform pore arrays, and controllable pore size. The preparation of porous anodic aluminum oxide template and the latest research progress in the fabrication of various vertical ordered nanostructure arrays with some typical methods including Pulsed Laser Deposition、Ion Beam Etching、metal-assisted chemical etching、chemical vapor deposition, Sol-gel are reviewed. The primary difficulties in research were also pointed out.