Large-area silver nano-arrays SERS and SPR substrates were fabricated through direct metallization of silver mirrors on patterned elastomers. The silver nanostructures were transferred onto planar supports, i.e., glass slides and plane-cut optical fiber tips, by using a thin adhesive layer of epoxy resin. The nano-arrays templates were generated through interference lithography, a laser-based writing technique implemented in our group. Both 1-dimensional structures of nano-channels (shown in Figure 1) and 2-dimensional structures of nano-posts were fabricated and transferred for glass slides. The substrates supported on glass slides have been characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SERS spectra from fluorescence dyes, such as Nile Blue A, were obtained to quantify the plasmonic performance of the substrates, where the typical SERS mapping illustrates the high enhancing and uniform characteristics of the substrates. The next move of this work is to transfer the silver nano-arrays onto the optical fiber. The substrates fabricated will be used for the detection of biologically relevant species. 

Large-area silver nano-arrays on planar substrates for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensing

248th National Meeting (2014)

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