Improving hot-spot intensity is a key issue in surface-enhanced Raman scattering （SERS）. The bowtie nanoantenna （BNA） is an effective device used to concentrate light energy into a nanoscale volume and produce str...Improving hot-spot intensity is a key issue in surface-enhanced Raman scattering （SERS）. The bowtie nanoantenna （BNA） is an effective device used to concentrate light energy into a nanoscale volume and produce strong hot spots. Nanosphere lithography （NSL） is a large-area and low-cost technique to produce BNA arrays; however, the SERS activity of NSL-fabricated BNAs is limited. In this paper, we present a simple method to improve the SERS activity of conventional NSL-fabricated BNAs by modifying their geometry. The new configuration is termed ＂silver-coated elevated bowtie nanoantenna＂ （SCEBNA）. SCEBNAs perform intensive near-field enhancement in the gap cavities owing to the integrated contribution of the ＂lightning rod＂ effect, resonance coupling, and the formation of the plasmonic Fabry-Perot cavity. Experimental measurements and finite-difference time-domain simulations revealed that the hot-spot intensity and the substrate enhancement factor can be optimized by adjusting the silver thickness. The optimal sample has the capability of trace-amount detection with fine reproducibility.展开更多
基金Acknowledgements This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China （No. 21273092） and the National Basic Research Program of China （No. 2009CB939701）.
文摘Improving hot-spot intensity is a key issue in surface-enhanced Raman scattering （SERS）. The bowtie nanoantenna （BNA） is an effective device used to concentrate light energy into a nanoscale volume and produce strong hot spots. Nanosphere lithography （NSL） is a large-area and low-cost technique to produce BNA arrays; however, the SERS activity of NSL-fabricated BNAs is limited. In this paper, we present a simple method to improve the SERS activity of conventional NSL-fabricated BNAs by modifying their geometry. The new configuration is termed ＂silver-coated elevated bowtie nanoantenna＂ （SCEBNA）. SCEBNAs perform intensive near-field enhancement in the gap cavities owing to the integrated contribution of the ＂lightning rod＂ effect, resonance coupling, and the formation of the plasmonic Fabry-Perot cavity. Experimental measurements and finite-difference time-domain simulations revealed that the hot-spot intensity and the substrate enhancement factor can be optimized by adjusting the silver thickness. The optimal sample has the capability of trace-amount detection with fine reproducibility.
