Self-aligned colloidal lithography for controllable and tuneable plasmonic nanogaps.

Au nanoparticles (NPs) deposited on a substrate function as ring shaped colloidal shadow masks. Using e-beam evaporation of gold, nanometer sized gaps are formed as a result. The size of these gaps can be accurately tuned by controlling the thickness of the gold deposition, thereby tuning the plasmonic coupling of the NPs with the substrate. The clean cavity produced between the Au NPs and the Au film provides an excellent SERS platform for trace molecule detection.