Gradient metal nanoislands as a unified surface enhanced Raman scattering and surface enhanced infrared absorption platform for analytics.

In the last few decades, the use of plasmonics in vibrational spectroscopy has expanded the scope of (bio)analytical investigations. Nevertheless, there is a demand for a combined platform that can be simultaneously efficient for Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) and Surface Enhanced Infrared Absorption (SEIRA). Here, we present a solution on the basis of a plasmonic Ag nanoparticle layer with a thickness gradient. The optical resonance along the layer varies from the visible to the infrared range offering optimal and intermediate sites for SERS and SEIRA of the analyte molecule (mercaptobenzonitrile). Enhancement factors for the same mode were determined to be ca. 104 and 170 for SERS and SEIRA, respectively. We present a full optical and vibrational characterization and demonstrate further tunability. The platform resolves reproducibility and comparability issues by a combination of the two methods. It also offers individualized solutions for different investigation conditions, i.e. a choice between excitation wavelengths and resonant Raman molecules. The multiple applicabilities of the presented unifying substrate can contribute to the expansion of the vibrational spectroscopic field and to analytics.

Large-scale self-organized gold nanostructures with bidirectional plasmon resonances for SERS.

Efficient substrates for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) are under constant development, since time-consuming and costly fabrication routines are often an issue for high-throughput spectroscopy applications. In this research, we use a two-step fabrication method to produce self-organized parallel-oriented plasmonic gold nanostructures. The fabrication routine is ready for wafer-scale production involving only low-energy ion beam irradiation and metal deposition. The optical spectroscopy features of the resulting structures show a successful bidirectional plasmonic response. The localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) of each direction are independent from each other and can be tuned by the fabrication parameters. This ability to tune the LSPR characteristics allows the development of optimized plasmonic nanostructures to match different laser excitations and optical transitions for any arbitrary analyte. Moreover, in this study, we probe the polarization and wavelength dependence of such bidirectional plasmonic nanostructures by a complementary spectroscopic ellipsometry and Raman spectroscopy analysis. We observe a significant signal amplification by the SERS substrates and determine enhancement factors of over a thousand times. We also perform finite element method-based calculations of the electromagnetic enhancement for the SERS signal provided by the plasmonic nanostructures. The calculations are based on realistic models constructed using the same particle sizes and shapes experimentally determined by scanning electron microscopy. The spatial distribution of electric field enhancement shows some dispersion in the LSPR, which is a direct consequence of the semi-random distribution of hotspots. The signal enhancement is highly efficient, making our SERS substrates attractive candidates for high-throughput chemical sensing applications in which directionality, chemical stability, and large-scale fabrication are essential requirements.