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An efficient nanopatterning strategy for controllably fabricating ultra-small gaps as a highly sensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering platform.
- Source :
- Nanotechnology; 1/18/2020, Vol. 31 Issue 4, p1-8, 8p
- Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- The realization of large-scale and high-density gaps with sizes as small as possible is crucial for designing ultra-sensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates. As known, the ultrathin alumina mask (UTAM) surface nanopatterning technique allows the fabrication of periodic nanoparticle (NP) arrays with 5 nm gaps among the NPs, however, it still faces a significant challenge in realizing the reliable distribution of nanogaps over a large area, because of the unavoidable collapse of the UTAM pore wall during the traditional one-step homothermal pore-widening process. Herein, an efficient two-step poikilothermal pore-widening process was developed to precisely control the pore wall etching of a UTAM, enabling effectively avoiding the fragmentation of the UTAM and finally obtaining a large-scale UTAM with a pore wall thickness of about 5 nm. As a result, large-scale NP arrays with high-density sub-5 nm and even smaller gaps between the neighboring NPs have been realized through applying the as-prepared UTAM as the nanopatterning template. These NP arrays with sub-5 nm gaps show ultrahigh SERS sensitivity (signal enhancement improved by an order of magnitude compared with NP arrays with 5 nm gaps) and good reproducibility, which demonstrates the practical feasibility of this promising two-step pore-widening UTAM technique for the fabrication of high-performance active SERS substrates with large-scale ultra-small nanogaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- SERS spectroscopy
NANOPATTERNING
RAMAN scattering
MAGNITUDE (Mathematics)
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 09574484
- Volume :
- 31
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Nanotechnology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 152287459
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6528/ab49ac