Laboratory for Mechanics of Materials and Nanostructures, EMPA, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research, Feuerwerkerstrasse 39, CH-3602 Thun, Switzerland.
Nanotechnology. 2009 Nov 11;20(45):455302. doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/20/45/455302. Epub 2009 Oct 16.
The possibility to synthesize large areas of silver grains organized in nanorings using a simple technique based on nanosphere lithography and electroless plating as a metal deposition method is described for the first time. In addition, we present a systematic SERS study of the obtained long-range ordered silver nanodots and nanorings. The possibility to precisely control the size, the interdistance and the morphology of these nanostructures allows us to systematically investigate the influence of these parameters on SERS. We show that the best possible SERS substrates should not only present optimal sizes, interdistances and shapes, but also a grain-like structure composed of sub-100 nm grains in order to maximize the number of hot-spots. In addition, we show that grains arranged in nanorings present higher enhancement factors (E(F) = 5.5 x 10(5)) as compared to similar arrays made of nanodots. A wide range of applications, including real-time monitoring of catalytic surface reactions, environmental and security monitoring as well as clinical and pharmaceutical screening, can be envisaged for these SERS substrates.
首次描述了一种使用基于纳米球光刻和化学镀作为金属沉积方法的简单技术来合成大面积纳米环结构银颗粒的可能性。此外，我们还对获得的长程有序银纳米点和纳米环进行了系统的 SERS 研究。这些纳米结构的尺寸、间隔和形态可以精确控制，这使得我们能够系统地研究这些参数对 SERS 的影响。我们表明，最佳的 SERS 基底不仅应该具有最佳的尺寸、间隔和形状，而且还应该具有由亚 100nm 颗粒组成的粒状结构，以最大限度地增加热点数量。此外，我们表明，与由纳米点组成的类似阵列相比，排列成纳米环的颗粒具有更高的增强因子（E(F) = 5.5 x 10(5)）。这些 SERS 基底可应用于多种领域，包括实时监测催化表面反应、环境和安全监测以及临床和药物筛选。
