Concept The fabrication of substrates for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) responding to specific analytical (sensitivity, selectivity and reproducibility) and/or technical needs (cost, large area, stability) represents a highly active field of research. Supported gold nanostructure SERS substrates are interesting because they can accomplish plasmon resonance both in the near infrared (NIR) and visible range, matching standard laser sources for Raman analysis. In this contribute, we explore two different strategies to fabricate SERS substrates based on gold nanostructures: (i) two dimensional periodic arrays of gold nano-patches fabricated by means of nano-lithographic technique; and (ii) ensembles of gold nanoparticles grown by mask-less sputtering methodology. Motivations and Objectives The exploitation of SERS as a routine analytical technique depends on development of plasmonic substrates which have to provide significant enhancement factor, stability upon interaction with analytes and a low fabrication cost. Thus, this work is aimed to (i) the engineering of plasmonic structures in terms of size, shape, and surface distribution (random or periodic) maximizing the interaction with both analytes and excitation laser source, (ii) to the optimization of the explored fabrication routes for the production of stable array of gold nanostructures on different substrates (silicon, glass, PET, PI, and supported graphene). Results and Discussion SERS substrates based on periodic array of gold nano-patches (fig. a) and ensemble of gold nanoparticles (fig. b) supported on silicon have been fabricated. The effectiveness of these SERS substrates has been investigated and tested by a probe molecule (the benzyl thiol) in order to point up and to compare specific advantages and limits.
Fabrication and response of SERS substrates based on arrays of gold nanostructures
G V Bianco;M M Giangregorio;M Losurdo;P Capezzuto;G Bruno
2013
Abstract
Concept The fabrication of substrates for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) responding to specific analytical (sensitivity, selectivity and reproducibility) and/or technical needs (cost, large area, stability) represents a highly active field of research. Supported gold nanostructure SERS substrates are interesting because they can accomplish plasmon resonance both in the near infrared (NIR) and visible range, matching standard laser sources for Raman analysis. In this contribute, we explore two different strategies to fabricate SERS substrates based on gold nanostructures: (i) two dimensional periodic arrays of gold nano-patches fabricated by means of nano-lithographic technique; and (ii) ensembles of gold nanoparticles grown by mask-less sputtering methodology. Motivations and Objectives The exploitation of SERS as a routine analytical technique depends on development of plasmonic substrates which have to provide significant enhancement factor, stability upon interaction with analytes and a low fabrication cost. Thus, this work is aimed to (i) the engineering of plasmonic structures in terms of size, shape, and surface distribution (random or periodic) maximizing the interaction with both analytes and excitation laser source, (ii) to the optimization of the explored fabrication routes for the production of stable array of gold nanostructures on different substrates (silicon, glass, PET, PI, and supported graphene). Results and Discussion SERS substrates based on periodic array of gold nano-patches (fig. a) and ensemble of gold nanoparticles (fig. b) supported on silicon have been fabricated. The effectiveness of these SERS substrates has been investigated and tested by a probe molecule (the benzyl thiol) in order to point up and to compare specific advantages and limits.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
