SERS has been used to provide ultrasensitive detection of chemical bond vibration motions of a molecule when the molecule is placed nearby a nanostructured plasmonic antenna. Here, we used SMRS to investigate Raman activities of individual Poly(3-Hexylthiophene) (P3HT) polymer chains to reveal the dependence on their conformation changes. We also studied effect on the polymer Raman signature when combined with Phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). We first tested the nanotextured Raman substrate for single molecule detection by obtaining a single molecule spectrum of Rhodamine 6G (R6G). The procedure was repeated with P3HT. Both Raman images and time flow of Raman spectra were collected, in order to determine the behavior of the polymer chains on the surface. The procedure was then repeated with two mixtures of P3HT:PCBM, one annealed and the other unannealed. Annealing the mixture caused the molecules to aggregate and altered the normal behavior of fluorescence quenching of P3HT.

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy of single conjugate polymer molecules on nanotextured silver film

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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