Single-Molecule Nonresonant Wide-Field Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering from Ferroelectrically Defined Au Nanoparticle Microarrays

• Single-molecule detection by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a powerful spectroscopic technique that is of interest for the sensor development field. An important aspect of optimizing the materials used in SERS-based sensors is the ability to have a high density of "hot spots" that enhance the SERS sensitivity to the single-molecule level. Photodeposition of gold (Au) nanoparticles through electric-field-directed self-assembly on a periodically proton-exchanged lithium niobate (PPELN) substrate provides conditions to form well-ordered microscale features consisting of closely packed Au nanoparticles. The resulting Au nanoparticle microstructure arrays (microarrays) are plasmon-active and support nonresonant single-molecule SERS at ultralow concentrations (<10(-9)-10(-13) M) with excitation power densities <1 x 10(-3) W cm(-2) using wide-field imaging. The microarrays offer excellent SERS reproducibility, with an intensity variation of <7.5% across the substrate. As most biomarkers and molecules do not support resonance enhancement, this work demonstrates that PPELN is a suitable template for high-sensitivity, nonresonant sensing applications.

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NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences (hsv//eng)

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