Electromigrated nanoscale gaps for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy
Abstract
Single-molecule detection with chemical specificity is a powerful and much desired tool for biology, chemistry, physics, and sensing technologies. Surface-enhanced spectroscopies enable single molecule studies, yet reliable substrates of adequate sensitivity are in short supply. We present a simple, scaleable substrate for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) incorporating nanometer-scale electromigrated gaps between extended electrodes. Molecules in the nanogap active regions exhibit hallmarks of very high Raman sensitivity, including blinking and spectral diffusion. Electrodynamic simulations show plasmonic focusing, giving electromagnetic enhancements approaching those needed for single-molecule SERS.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0704.0451,
title = {Electromigrated nanoscale gaps for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy},
author = {D. R. Ward and N. K. Grady and C. S. Levin and N. J. Halas and Y. Wu and P. Nordlander and D. Natelson},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0704.0451},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
29 pages, 11 figures (includes supp. material)