Surface enhanced infrared absorption of chemisorbed carbon monoxide using plasmonic nanoantennas.

We report the enhancement of infrared absorption of chemisorbed carbon monoxide on platinum in the gap of plasmonic nanoantennas. Our method is based on the self-assembled formation of platinum nanoislands on nanoscopic dipole antenna arrays manufactured via electron beam lithography. We employ systematic variations of the plasmonic antenna resonance to precisely couple to the molecular stretch vibration of carbon monoxide adsorbed on the platinum nanoislands. Ultimately, we reach more than 1500-fold infrared absorption enhancements, allowing for an ultrasensitive detection of a monolayer of chemisorbed carbon monoxide. The developed procedure can be adapted to other metal adsorbents and molecular species and could be utilized for coverage sensing in surface catalytic reactions.