Relationship between Length and Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy signal Strength in Metal Nanoparticle Chains: Idea Models versus Nanofabrication

Published

January 18, 2012

Author(s)

Angela R. Hight Walker, K. Stec, Shunpig Zhang, Hongxing Xu, Rene Lopez

Abstract

We have employed capillary force deposition on ion beam patterned substrates to fabricate chains of 60nm gold nanospheres ranging in length from 1 to 9 nanoparticles. Measurements of the surface-averaged SERS enhancement factor strength for these chains were then compared to the numerical predictions. The SERS enhancement conformed to theoretical predictions in the case of only a few chains, with the vast majority of chains tested not matching such behavior. Although all of the nanoparticle chains appear identical under electron microscope observation, the extreme sensitivity of the SERS enhancement to nanoscale morphology renders current nanofabrication methods insufficient for consistent production of coupled nanoparticle chains. Notwithstanding this fact, the aggregate data also confirmed that nanoparticle dimers offer a large improvement over the monomer enhancement while conclusively showing that, within the limitations imposed by current state-of-the-art nanofabrication techniques, chains comprising more than two nanoparticles provide only a marginal signal boost over the already considerable dimer enhancement.

Citation

International Journal of Nanotechnology

Volume

2012

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

DOI Link

Keywords

capillary force deposition, generalized Mie theory, gold nanoparticle, nanochain, Raman, SERS

Citation

Hight, A. , Stec, K. , Zhang, S. , Xu, H. and Lopez, R. (2012), Relationship between Length and Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy signal Strength in Metal Nanoparticle Chains: Idea Models versus Nanofabrication, International Journal of Nanotechnology, [online], https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/840245 (Accessed November 8, 2024)