3D nanostar dimers with a sub-10-nm gap for single-/few-molecule surface-enhanced raman scattering

Reliable fabrication of 3D freestanding nanostructures via all dry stacking of incompatible photoresist

Three-dimensional (3D) free-standing nanostructures based on electron-beam lithography (EBL) have potential applications in many fields with extremely high patterning resolution and design flexibility with direct writing. In numerous EBL processes designed for the creation of 3D structures, the multilayer resist system is pivotal due to its adaptability in design. Nevertheless, the compatibility of solvents between different layers of resists often restricts the variety of feasible multilayer combinations. This paper introduces an innovative approach to address the bottleneck issue by presenting a novel concept of multilayer resist dry stacking, which is facilitated by a near-zero adhesion strategy. The poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) film is stacked onto the hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) resist using a dry peel and release technique, effectively circumventing the issue of HSQ solubilization by PMMA solvents typically encountered during conventional spin-coating procedures. Simultaneously, a dry lift-off technique can be implemented by eschewing the use of organic solvents during the wet process. This pioneering method enables the fabrication of high-resolution 3D free-standing plasmonic nanostructures and intricate 3D free-standing nanostructures. Finally, this study presents a compelling proof of concept, showcasing the integration of 3D free-standing nanostructures, fabricated via the described technique, into the realm of Fabry-Perot cavity resonators, thereby highlighting their potential for practical applications. This approach is a promising candidate for arbitrary 3D free-standing nanostructure fabrication, which has potential applications in nanoplasmonics, nanoelectronics, and nanophotonics.

Plasmonic Nanostructures Grown from Reacting Droplet-In-Microwell Array on Flexible Films for Quantitative Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy in Plant Wearable In Situ Detection

Plant wearable detection has garnered significant interest in advancing agricultural intelligence and promoting sustainable food production amidst the challenges of climate change. Accurately monitoring plant health and agrochemical residue levels necessitates qualities such as precision, affordability, simplicity, and noninvasiveness. Here, a novel attachable plasmonic film is introduced and designed for on-site detection of agrochemical residues utilizing surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). By functionalizing a thin polydimethylsiloxane film with silver nanoparticles via controlled droplet reactions in micro-well arrays, a plasmonic film is achieved that not only maintains optical transparency for precise analyte localization but also conforms closely to the plant surface, facilitating highly sensitive SERS measurements. The reliability of this film enables accurate identification and quantification of individual compounds and their mixtures, boasting an ultra-low detection limit ranging from 10-16 to 10-13 m, with mini mal relative standard deviation. To showcase its potential, on-field detection of pesticide residues on fruit surfaces is conducted using a handheld Raman spectrometer. This advancement in fabricating plasmonic nanostructures on flexible films holds promise for expanding SERS applications beyond plant monitoring, including personalized health monitoring, point-of-care diagnosis, wearable devices for human-machine interface, and on-site monitoring of environmental pollutants.

High-performance, large-area flexible SERS substrates prepared by reactive ion etching for molecular detection

In the realm of molecular detection, the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technique has garnered increasing attention due to its rapid detection, high sensitivity, and non-destructive characteristics. However, conventional rigid SERS substrates are either costly to fabricate and challenging to prepare over a large area, or they exhibit poor uniformity and repeatability, making them unsuitable for inspecting curved object surfaces. In this work, we present a flexible SERS substrate with high sensitivity as well as good uniformity and repeatability. First, the flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate is manually formulated and cured. SiO2/Ag layer on the substrate can be obtained in a single process by using ion beam sputtering. Then, reactive ion etching is used to etch the upper SiO2layer of the film, which directly leads to the desired densely packed nanostructure. Finally, a layer of precious metal is deposited on the densely packed nanostructure by thermal evaporation. In our proposed system, the densely packed nanostructure obtained by etching the SiO2layer directly determines the SERS ability of the substrate. The bottom layer of silver mirror can reflect the penetrative incident light, the spacer layer of SiO2and the top layer of silver thin film can further localize the light in the system, which can realize the excellent absorption of Raman laser light, thus enhancing SERS ability. In the tests, the prepared substrates show excellent SERS performance in detecting crystalline violet with a detection limit of 10-11M. The development of this SERS substrate is anticipated to offer a highly effective and convenient method for molecular substance detection.

Tecoma stans Floral Extract-Based Biosynthesis for Enhanced Surface Plasmon-Coupled Emission and a Preliminary Study on Fluoroimmunoassay

We demonstrate the synthesis of biogenic supported silver spiked star architectures and their application to increase the electromagnetic field intensity at its tips that enhance plasmon-coupled emission. Tecoma stans floral extract has been used to synthesize silver nanocubes and spiked stars. We observe ∼445-fold and ∼680-fold enhancements in spacer and cavity configurations, respectively, in the SPCE platform. The hotspot intensity and Purcell factor are evaluated by carrying out finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations. Time-based studies are presented to modulate the sharpness of the edges wherein an increase in the tip sharpness with the increase in reaction time up to 5 h is observed. The unique morphology of the silver architectures allowed us to utilize them in biosensing application. A SPCE-based fluoroimmunoassay was performed, achieving a 1.9 pg/mL limit of detection of TNF-α cytokine. This combination of anisotropic architectures, SPCE and immunoassay prove to be a powerful platform for the ultrasensitive detection of biomarkers in surface-bound assays.

Unique gap-related SERS behaviors ofp-aminothiophenol molecules absorbed on TiO2surface in periodic TiO2/Ni nanopillar arrays

We observed a unique interpillar gap-related surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) behavior ofp-aminothiophenol (PATP) molecules from periodic TiO2nanopillar arrays with three gap sizes of 191, 297 and 401 nm, which is completely different from that on Ag and Ni nanopillar arrays. Especially, the gap-size-dependent charge-transfer (CT) resonance enhancement from TiO2/Ni has been indicated through comparisons of variation trend of SERS intensities with inter-pillar gap size between TiO2/Ni and Ag/TiO2/Ni as well as Ni nanoarrays, and been confirmed by spectra of ultraviolet-visible absorption and photoluminescence. Results demonstrate that the CT resonance enhancement is more susceptible to the change of the gap size compared with the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) enhancement in TiO2/Ni nanoarrays. Hence, SPR and CT enhancement showing different variation trend and rate with the gap size that leads to a different relative contribution of CT resonance to the overall SERS enhancement as gap size changes, and consequently results in a unique gap-related SERS behavior for TiO2/Ni nanoarrays. The present study is not only helpful for investigating SERS mechanism for semiconductors but also providing a method to design and optimize periodic metal/semiconductor SERS substrates in a controllable way.

Multi-Functional Applications of H-Glass Embedded with Stable Plasmonic Gold Nanoislands

Metal nanoparticles (MNPs) are synthesized using various techniques on diverse substrates that significantly impact their properties. However, among the substrate materials investigated, the major challenge is the stability of MNPs due to their poor adhesion to the substrate. Herein, it is demonstrated how a newly developed H-glass can concurrently stabilize plasmonic gold nanoislands (GNIs) and offer multifunctional applications. The GNIs on the H-glass are synthesized using a simple yet, robust thermal dewetting process. The H-glass embedded with GNIs demonstrates versatility in its applications, such as i) acting as a room temperature chemiresistive gas sensor (70% response for NO2 gas); ii) serving as substrates for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for the identifications of Nile blue (dye) and picric acid (explosive) analytes down to nanomolar concentrations with enhancement factors of 4.8 × 106 and 6.1 × 105 , respectively; and iii) functioning as a nonlinear optical saturable absorber with a saturation intensity of 18.36 × 1015 W m-2 at 600 nm, and the performance characteristics are on par with those of materials reported in the existing literature. This work establishes a facile strategy to develop advanced materials by depositing metal nanoislands on glass for various functional applications.

Biosensors based on core-shell nanoparticles for detecting mycotoxins in food: A review

Mycotoxins are toxic metabolites produced by fungi in the process of infecting agricultural products, posing serious threat to the health of human and animals. Thus, sensitive and reliable analytical techniques for mycotoxin detection are needed. Biosensors equipped with antibodies or aptamers as recognition elements and core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) for the pre-treatment and detection of mycotoxins have been extensively studied. By comparison with monocomponent NPs, core-shell nanostructures exhibit unique optical, electric, magnetic, plasmonic, and catalytic properties due to the combination of functionalities and synergistic effects, resulting in significant improvement of sensing capacities in various platforms, such as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, fluorescence, lateral flow immunoassay and electrochemical sensors. This review focused on the development of core-shell NPs based biosensors for the sensitive and accurate detection of mycotoxins in food samples. Recent developments were categorised and summarised, along with detailed discussion of advantages and shortcomings. The future potential of utilising core-shell NPs in food safety testing was also highlighted.

Manipulating Coupled Field Enhancement in Slot-under-Groove Nanoarrays for Universal Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is an ultrasensitive spectroscopic technique that can identify materials and chemicals based on their inelastic light-scattering properties. In general, SERS relies on sub-10 nm nanogaps to amplify the Raman signals and achieve ultralow-concentration identification of analytes. However, large-sized analytes, such as proteins and viruses, usually cannot enter these tiny nanogaps, limiting the practical applications of SERS. Herein, we demonstrate a universal SERS platform for the reliable and sensitive identification of a wide range of analytes. The key to this success is the prepared "slot-under-groove" nanoarchitecture arrays, which could realize a strongly coupled field enhancement with a large spatial mode distribution via the hybridization of gap-surface plasmons in the upper V-groove and localized surface plasmon resonance in the lower slot. Therefore, our slot-under-groove platform can simultaneously deliver high sensitivity for small-sized analytes and the identification of large-sized analytes with a large Raman gain.

Wafer-Level Highly Dense Metallic Nanopillar-Enabled High-Performance SERS Substrates for Molecular Detection

Seeking sensitive, large-scale, and low-cost substrates is highly important for practical applications of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technology. Noble metallic plasmonic nanostructures with dense hot spots are considered an effective construction to enable sensitive, uniform, and stable SERS performance and thus have attracted wide attention in recent years. In this work, we reported a simple fabrication method to achieve wafer-scale ultradense tilted and staggered plasmonic metallic nanopillars filled with numerous nanogaps (hot spots). By adjusting the etching time of the PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) layer, the optimal SERS substrate with the densest metallic nanopillars was obtained, which possessed a detection limit down to 10^-13 M by using crystal violet as the detected molecules and exhibited excellent reproducibility and long-term stability. Furthermore, the proposed fabrication approach was further used to prepare flexible substrates; for example, a SERS flexible substrate was proven to be an ideal platform for analyzing low-concentration pesticide residues on curved fruit surfaces with significantly enhanced sensitivity. This type of SERS substrate possesses potential in real-life applications as low-cost and high-performance sensors.

A robust SERS calibration using a pseudo-internal intensity reference

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) with high molecular sensitivity and specificity is a powerful nondestructive analytical tool. Since its discovery, SERS measurements have suffered from the vulnerability of calibration curve, which makes quantification analysis a great challenge. In this work, we report a robust calibration method by introducing a referenced measurement as the intensity standard. This intensity reference not only has the advantages of the internal standard method such as reflecting the SERS substrate enhancement, but also avoids the introduction of competing adsorption between target molecules and the internal standard. Based on the normalized calibration curve, the magnitude of the R6G concentration can be well evaluated from 10^-7 M to 10^-12 M. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this pseudo-internal standard method can also work well using a different type of molecule as the reference. This SERS calibration method would be beneficial for the development of quantitative SERS analysis.

Optical Printing of Single Au Nanostars

Obtaining arrays of single nanoparticles with three-dimensional complex shapes is still an open challenge. Current nanolithography methods do not allow for the preparation of nanoparticles with complex features like nanostars. In this work, we investigate the optical printing of gold nanostars of different sizes as a function of laser wavelength and power. We found that tuning the laser to the main resonances of the nanostars in the near-infrared makes it possible to avoid nanoparticles reshaping due to plasmonic heating, enabling their deposition at the single particle level and in ordered arrays.

Self-assembly of Au nanocrystals into large-area 3-D ordered flexible superlattice nanostructures arrays for ultrasensitive trace multi-hazard detection

Plasmonic nanoparticles that self-assemble into highly ordered superlattice nanostructures hold substantial promise for facilitating ultra-trace surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection. Herein, we propose a boiling-point evaporation method to synthesize ordered monocrystal-like superlattice Au nanostructures (OML-Au NTs) with a polyhedral morphology. Combined with thermal nanoimprint technology, OML-Au NTs were directly transferred to impact-resistant polystyrene (IPS) flexible SERS substrates, the obtained flexible substrates (donated as OML-Au NTs/IPS) detection limit for R6G molecules as low as 10^-13 M. These results were confirmed by simulating the electromagnetic field distribution of ordered/unordered two-dimensional single-layer and three-dimensional aggregated gold nanostructures. The OML-Au NTs/IPS substrates were successfully used to detect and quantify three commonly-used agricultural pesticides, achieving detection limits as low as 10^-11 M and 10^-12 M, and in situ real-time detection limit reached 0.24 pg/cm² for thiram on apple peels, which was 3 orders of magnitude lower than the current detection limit. In addition, the Raman intensity from multiple locations showed a relative standard deviation lower than 7 %, exhibiting the reliability necessary for practical applications. As a result, this research demonstrates a highly reproducible method to enable the development of plasmonic nanomaterials with flexible superstructures.

Suspended 3D metallic dimers with sub-10 nm gap for high-sensitive SERS detection

The suspended metallic nanostructures with tiny gaps have certain advantages in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) due to the coaction of the tiny metallic nanogaps and the substrate-decoupled electromagnetism resonant modes. In this study, we used the lithographic HSQ/PMMA electron-beam bilayer resist exposure combined with a deposition-induced nanogap-narrowing process to define elevated suspended metallic nanodimers with tiny gaps for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy detection. By adjusting the deposited metal thickness, the metallic dimers with sub-10 nm gaps can be reliably obtained. These dimers with tunable nanogaps successfully served as excellent SERS substrates, exhibiting remarkable high-sensitivity detection ability for crystal violet molecules. Systematic experiments and simulations were conducted to explain the origin of the improved SERS performance. The results showed that the 3D elevated suspended metallic dimers could achieve a higher SERS enhancement factor than the metallic dimers on HSQ pillars and a common Si substrate, demonstrating that this kind of suspended metallic dimer is a promising route for high-sensitive SERS detection and other plasmonic applications.

Molecular states and spin crossover of hemin studied by DNA origami enabled single-molecule surface-enhanced Raman scattering

The study of biologically relevant molecules and their interaction with external stimuli on a single molecular scale is of high importance due to the availability of distributed rather than averaged information. Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) provides direct chemical information, but is rather challenging on the single molecule (SM) level, where it is often assumed to require a direct contact of analyte molecules with the metal surface. Here, we detect and investigate the molecular states of single hemin by SM-SERS. A DNA aptamer based G-quadruplex mediated recognition of hemin directs its placement in the SERS hot-spot of a DNA Origami Nanofork Antenna (DONA). The configuration of the DONA structure allows the molecule to be trapped at the plasmonic hot-spot preferentially in no-contact configuration with the metal surface. Owing to high field enhancement at the plasmonic hot spot, the detection of a single folded G-quadruplex becomes possible. For the first time, we present a systematic study by SM-SERS where most hemin molecule adopt a high spin and oxidation state (III) that showed state crossover to low spin upon strong-field-ligand binding. The present study therefore, provides a platform for studying biologically relevant molecules and their properties at SM sensitivity along with demonstrating a conceptual advancement towards successful monitoring of single molecular chemical interaction using DNA aptamers.

Fabrication of triangular Au/Ag nanoparticle arrays with sub-10 nm nanogap controlled by flexible substrate for surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Large-area ordered nanoparticle arrays have shown great potential as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates. The preparation methods of metal nanogap with width greater than 10 nm are relatively mature. In contrast, nanomanufacturing methods for sub-10 nm still face challenges in realizing controllable and reproducible features. Herein, a series of triangular Au/Ag nanoparticle arrays (noted as Au/Ag NPAs) with sub-10 nm gap were prepared by utilizing stress-induced local cracking and high expansion coefficient of flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The triangular tip-connected Au/Ag NPAs were firstly prepared by depositing Au and Ag films on home-made polystyrene (PS) templates, then gaps with precise size (3 nm, 5 nm, 7 nm, 9 nm and 11 nm) were achieved by controlling the temperature of flexible PDMS, and finally transferred to the silicon wafers using as SERS substrates. The results showed that when the prepared triangular Au/Ag NPAs with 3 nm nanogap were used as reliable SERS substrates, the relative standard deviation of Raman intensity at 621 cm^-1mode of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) with concentration of 10^-6M was 2.3%, indicating excellent uniformity. The approach showed good controllability and repeatability for SERS analysis, exhibiting good application prospect in surface trace detection.

Combining Azimuthal and Polar Angle Resolved Shadow Mask Deposition and Nanosphere Lithography to Uncover Unique Nano-Crystals

In this article, we present a systematic investigation on a multistep nanosphere lithography technique to uncover its potential in fabricating a wide range of two- and three-dimensional nanostructures. A tilted (polar angle) electron beam shower on a nanosphere mask results in an angled shadow mask deposition. The shape of the shadow also depends on the azimuthal angle of the mask sitting on top of the substrate. We performed angled shadow mask depositions with systematic variation of these two angular parameters, giving rise to complex nanostructures (down to 50 nm), repeated over a large area without defect. In this article, nanosphere lithography with two- and four-fold azimuthal symmetry was studied at constant tilt angles followed by variations in tilt without azimuthal rotation of the substrate. Finally, both angular parameters were simultaneously varied. The structure of shadow crystals was explained using Matlab simulation. This work stretches the horizons of nanosphere lithography, opening up new scopes in plasmonic and magnonic research.

High-Density-Nanotips-Composed 3D Hierarchical Au/CuS Hybrids for Sensitive, Signal-Reproducible, and Substrate-Recyclable SERS Detection

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) provides an unprecedented opportunity for fingerprinting identification and trace-level detection in chemistry, biomedicine, materials, and so on. Although great efforts have been devoted to fabricating sensitive plasmonic nanomaterials, it is still challenging to batch-produce a SERS substrate with high sensitivity, good reproducibility, and perfect recyclability. Here, we describe a facile fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical Au/CuS nanocomposites, in which high-density Au nanotips enable highly SERS-active sensing, and the well-defined microflower (MF) geometry produces perfect signal reproducibility (RSD < 5%) for large laser spot excitations (>50 μm2), which is particularly suitable for practical on-site detection with a handheld Raman spectrometer. In addition, a self-cleaning ability of this Au/CuS Schottky junction photocatalyst under sunlight irradiation allows complete removal of the adsorbed analytes, realizing perfect regeneration of the SERS substrates over many cycles. The mass-production, ultra-sensitive, high-reproducibility, and fast-recyclability features of hierarchical Au/CuS MFs greatly facilitate cost-effective and field SERS detection of trace analytes in practice.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for drug discovery: peptide-RNA binding

The ever-growing demand for new drugs highlights the need to develop novel cost- and time-effective techniques for drug discovery. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is an emerging ultrasensitive and label-free technique that allows for the efficient detection and characterization of molecular interactions. We have recently developed a SERS platform for detecting a single protein molecule linked to a gold substrate (Almehmadi et al. Scientific Reports 2019). In this study, we extended the approach to probe the binding of potential drugs to RNA targets. To demonstrate the proof of concept, two 16-amino acid residue peptides with close primary structures and different binding affinities to the RNA CUG repeat related to myotonic dystrophy were tested. Three-microliter solutions of the RNA repeat with these peptides at nanomolar concentrations were probed using the developed approach, and the binding of only one peptide was demonstrated. The SER spectra exhibited significant fluctuations along with a sudden strong enhancement as spectra were collected consecutively from individual spots. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the SER spectral datasets indicated that free RNA repeats could be differentiated from those complexed with a peptide with 100% accuracy. The developed SERS platform provides a novel opportunity for label-free screening of RNA-binding peptides for drug discovery. Schematic representation of the SERS platform for drug discovery developed in this study.

High-Throughput Fabrication of Triangular Nanogap Arrays for Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Squeezing light into nanometer-sized metallic nanogaps can generate extremely high near-field intensities, resulting in dramatically enhanced absorption, emission, and Raman scattering of target molecules embedded within the gaps. However, the scarcity of low-cost, high-throughput, and reproducible nanogap fabrication methods offering precise control over the gap size is a continuing obstacle to practical applications. Using a combination of molecular self-assembly, colloidal nanosphere lithography, and physical peeling, we report here a high-throughput method for fabricating large-area arrays of triangular nanogaps that allow the gap width to be tuned from ∼10 to ∼3 nm. The nanogap arrays function as high-performance substrates for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), with measured enhancement factors as high as 10⁸ relative to a thin gold film. Using the nanogap arrays, methylene blue dye molecules can be detected at concentrations as low as 1 pM, while adenine biomolecules can be detected down to 100 pM. We further show that it is possible to achieve sensitive SERS detection on binary-metal nanogap arrays containing gold and platinum, potentially extending SERS detection to the investigation of reactive species at platinum-based catalytic and electrochemical surfaces.

Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering of Au-Ag bimetallic nanopillars fabricated using surface-plasmon lithography

Arrays of gold-silver (Au-Ag) bimetallic nanopillars were fabricated by a newly developed surface-plasmon lithography (SPL) and their enhancement properties as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates have been studied. We demonstrated that the SPL is a low-cost and high efficiency method for the fabrication of SERS substrates with both high sensitivity and reproducibility. The nanopillars showed a good response in the detection of methylene blue molecules at a low concentration of 1.0 × 10^-11mol· l^-1. The SERS enhancement factors (EFs) are on the orders of 10⁷and the relative standard deviation of SERS intensity is <8% over an area of 50μm × 50μm. The EFs increase fast with the height increasing from 200 to 530 nm, then increase slowly when further increase the height of the nanopillars to 1100 nm. In addition, the Au-Ag bimetallic coating has shown much higher SERS enhancement than the coatings of either the pure Au or Ag. The excellent SERS enhancement and reproducibility of the Au-Ag coated nanopillars indicated that the fabricated SERS substrates can be used for the detection of biochemical molecules at trace level and the SPL is a promising method for fabrication of SERS substrates.

Gold@silver nanodumbbell based inter-nanogap aptasensor for the surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy determination of ochratoxin A

Here, a plasmonic nanogap structure was fabricated with its specific surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) effect to construct an aptasensor for the sensitive detection of ochratoxin A (OTA). Gold nanorod (AuNR) were synthesized first by seed-mediated method. Then, silver was reduced and grown on its surface. In the presence of glycine, Ag⁰ was preferred to grow at both ends of AuNR to form gold@silver nanodumbbell (Au@AgND). The thiolated OTA aptamer and its complementary sequence were modified on Au@AgND respectively using Ag-SH bond. Under the base complementary pairing principle, Au@AgND assembly formed with certain inter distances. The inter-nanogap structure generated more hot spots which enhanced the Raman signal of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (4-MBA) immobilized on Au@AgND. When OTA was present, the aptamer preferentially combined to OTA and the Au@AgND assembly disintegrated. Thus, the SERS signal of 4-MBA decreased. Under the optimal conditions, the OTA concentrations were inversely proportional to SERS signal. The linear range was 0.01 ng/mL-50 ng/mL and the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.007 ng/mL. The method can be successfully applied to the detection of real sample (beer/peanut oil).

Scalable Fabrication of Metallic Nanogaps at the Sub-10 nm Level

Metallic nanogaps with metal-metal separations of less than 10 nm have many applications in nanoscale photonics and electronics. However, their fabrication remains a considerable challenge, especially for applications that require patterning of nanoscale features over macroscopic length-scales. Here, some of the most promising techniques for nanogap fabrication are evaluated, covering established technologies such as photolithography, electron-beam lithography (EBL), and focused ion beam (FIB) milling, plus a number of newer methods that use novel electrochemical and mechanical means to effect the patterning. The physical principles behind each method are reviewed and their strengths and limitations for nanogap patterning in terms of resolution, fidelity, speed, ease of implementation, versatility, and scalability to large substrate sizes are discussed.

Metallic Plasmonic Array Structures: Principles, Fabrications, Properties, and Applications

The vast development of nanofabrication has spurred recent progress for the manipulation of light down to a region much smaller than the wavelength. Metallic plasmonic array structures are demonstrated to be the most powerful platform to realize controllable light-matter interactions and have found wide applications due to their rich and tunable optical performance through the morphology and parameter engineering. Here, various light-management mechanisms that may exist on metallic plasmonic array structures are described. Then, the typical techniques for fabrication of metallic plasmonic arrays are summarized. Next, some recent applications of plasmonic arrays are reviewed, including plasmonic sensing, surface-enhanced spectroscopies, plasmonic nanolasing, and perfect light absorption. Lastly, the existing challenges and perspectives for metallic plasmonic arrays are discussed. The aim is to provide guidance for future development of metallic plasmonic array structures.

Silk fibroin fibers decorated with urchin-like Au/Ag nanoalloys: a flexible hygroscopic SERS sensor for monitoring of folic acid in human sweat

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy has become a powerful and sensitive analytical tool for the detection and assessment of chemical/biological molecules in special scenarios. Herein we propose a flexible hygroscopic SERS biocompatible sensor based on the silk fibroin fibers (SFF) decorated with urchin-like Au/Ag nanoalloys (NAs). The hybrid SFF-Au/Ag NAs with a stronger absorbance capacity (500∼1100 nm) and excellent hygroscopicity provide a remarkable higher near-infrared (NIR)-SERS activity than that of bare urchin-like Au/Ag NAs. The interesting NIR-SERS sensor enables the limit of detection (LOD) of folic acid (FA) to be achieved at nanomolar (nM, 10^-9 M) level, facilitating the ultrasensitive monitoring of FA in human sweat and offering reliable real-time personal health management in the near future.

Plasmonic metal nanostructures with extremely small features: new effects, fabrication and applications

Surface plasmons in metals promise many fascinating properties and applications in optics, sensing, photonics and nonlinear fields. Plasmonic nanostructures with extremely small features especially demonstrate amazing new effects as the feature sizes scale down to the sub-nanometer scale, such as quantum size effects, quantum tunneling, spill-out of electrons and nonlocal states etc. The unusual physical, optical and photo-electronic properties observed in metallic structures with extreme feature sizes enable their unique applications in electromagnetic field focusing, spectra enhancing, imaging, quantum photonics, etc. In this review, we focus on the new effects, fabrication and applications of plasmonic metal nanostructures with extremely small features. For simplicity and consistency, we will focus our topic on the plasmonic metal nanostructures with feature sizes of sub-nanometers. Subsequently, we discussed four main and typical plasmonic metal nanostructures with extremely small features, including: (1) ultra-sharp plasmonic metal nanotips; (2) ultra-thin plasmonic metal films; (3) ultra-small plasmonic metal particles and (4) ultra-small plasmonic metal nanogaps. Additionally, the corresponding fascinating new effects (quantum nonlinear, non-locality, quantum size effect and quantum tunneling), applications (spectral enhancement, high-order harmonic wave generation, sensing and terahertz wave detection) and reliable fabrication methods will also be discussed. We end the discussion with a brief summary and outlook of the main challenges and possible breakthroughs in the field. We hope our discussion can inspire the broader design, fabrication and application of plasmonic metal nanostructures with extremely small feature sizes in the future.

Controllable fabrication of polymeric nanowires by NIL technique and self-assembled AAO template for SERS application

A controllable strategy to fabricate the polymeric nanowires with high throughput and low cost is developed by using the thermal nanoimprint lithography (NIL) technique and self-assembled anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template. The length of polymeric nanowires can be controlled by adjusting the duration of thermal NIL. A fill mechanism of thermoplastic intermediate polymer stamp (IPS) polymer pressed into the AAO nanopores is closely studied. The as-prepared IPS polymeric nanowire-based Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS)-active substrate exhibits a remarkable reproducibility. The effective adsorption of the R6G as probe molecule near to hotspots generated at 3D vertically aligned polymeric nanowire SERS active substrates shows extraordinary enhancement of Raman signal with an enhancement factor (EF) of 10⁵–10⁶. The present strategy is of great guiding significance to broaden the use of thermal NIL technique and AAO template for the fabrication of other nanomaterials, especially for the flexible and transparent polymer-based nanomaterials.

A 3D Plasmonic Antenna-Reactor for Nanoscale Thermal Hotspots and Gradients

Plasmonic nanoantennas focus light below the diffraction limit, creating strong field enhancements, typically within a nanoscale junction. Placing a nanostructure within the junction can greatly enhance the nanostructure's innate optical absorption, resulting in intense photothermal heating that could ultimately compromise both the nanostructure and the nanoantenna. Here, we demonstrate a three-dimensional "antenna-reactor" geometry that results in large nanoscale thermal gradients, inducing large local temperature increases in the confined nanostructure reactor while minimizing the temperature increase of the surrounding antenna. The nanostructure is supported on an insulating substrate within the antenna gap, while the antenna maintains direct contact with an underlying thermal conductor. Elevated local temperatures are quantified, and high local temperature gradients that thermally reshape only the internal reactor element within each antenna-reactor structure are observed. We also show that high local temperature increases of nominally 200 °C are achievable within antenna-reactors patterned into large extended arrays. This simple strategy can facilitate standoff optical generation of high-temperature hotspots, which may be useful in applications such as small-volume, high-throughput chemical processes, where reaction efficiencies depend exponentially on local temperature.

Tip-to-tip assembly of urchin-like Au nanostar at water-oil interface for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy detection

Au Nanostar (NS) monolayer as a surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate has been synthesized by self-assembly at a water-oil interface. It is confirmed from the experiment and simulation results that the Au NS monolayer includes lots of "hot spots" at or between the tips of the Au NSs, enhancing the local electromagnetic fields and giving rise to strong SERS signals sequentially. The limit of detection is determined to be down to 4.2 × 10^-12 M for rhodamine 6G. Furthermore, the Au NS monolayer can detect multiple molecules, including thiabendazole, methylene blue, 4-mercaptobenzoic acid, and p-amino thiophenol, indicating that the SERS substrate composed of Au NS monolayer has potential applications in analytical chemistry, food safety, and environmental safety.

Plasmon coupling nanorice trimer for ultrahigh enhancement of hyper-Raman scattering

A new tactic that using Ag nanorice trimer as surface-enhanced hyper Raman scattering substrate is proposed for realizing maximum signal enhancement. In this paper, we numerically simulate and theoretically analyze the optical properties of the nanorice trimer consisting of two short nanorices and a long nanorice. The Ag nanorice trimer can excite Fano resonance at optical frequencies based on the strong interaction between the bright and the dark mode. The bright mode is attributed to the first longitudinal resonance of the short nanorice pair, while the dark mode originates from the third longitudinal mode resonance of the long nanorice. The electric field distributions demonstrate that the two resonances with the largest field strength correspond to the first-order resonance of the long nanorice and the Fano resonance of the trimer, respectively. Two plasmon resonances with maximum electromagnetic field enhancements and same spatial hot spot regions can match spectrally with the pump and second-order Stokes beams of hyper Raman scattering, respectively, through reasonable design of the trimer structure parameters. The estimated enhancement factor of surface-enhanced hyper Raman scattering can achieve as high as 5.32 × 10¹³.

Large-Scale Flexible Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) Sensors with High Stability and Signal Homogeneity

Flexible surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensors have attracted great attention as a portable and low-cost device for chemical and bio-detection. However, flexible SERS sensors tend to suffer low signal spatial homogeneity due to the uneven distribution of active plasmonic nanostructures (hot spots) and quick degradation of their sensitivity due to low adhesion of hot spots and flexible substrates during fast sampling. Herein, a large-area (20 × 20 cm²) polyimide (PI)-based SERS sensor is exploited for trace detection with high signal homogeneity and stability. The SERS sensor is constructed from PI through in situ growth of silver and gold core-shell nanoparticles (Ag@Au NPs) based on chemical reduction and galvanic replacement processes. Benefiting from the abundant carboxyl groups on the surface-cleaved PI, densely and uniformly distributed Ag@Au NPs are successfully prepared on the film under ambient conditions. The high Raman enhancement factor (EF) (up to 1.07 × 10⁷) and detection capability with low nanomolar (10^-9 M) detection limits are obtained for this flexible SERS sensor. The uniform Raman signals in the random region show good signal homogeneity with a low variation of 8.7%. Moreover, the flexible SERS sensor exhibited superior efficiency and durability after storage for 30 days even after 500 cycles of mechanical stimuli (bending or torsion). The residue of pesticide thiram (tetramethylthiuram disulfide, TMTD) has been rapidly traced by direct sampling from the apple surface, and a sensitivity of 10 ng/cm² for TMTD was achieved. These findings show that the PI-based SERS sensor is a very strong candidate for broad and simple utilization of flexible SERS for both laboratory and commercial applications in chemical and biomolecule detections.

Fabrication and Applications of 3D Nanoarchitectures for Advanced Electrocatalysts and Sensors

For the last few decades, nanoscale materials and structures have been extensively studied and developed, making a huge impact on human sustainability. For example, the introduction of nanostructures has brought substantial development in electrocatalysts and optical sensing applications. However, there are still remaining challenges that need to be resolved to further improve their performance, reliability, and cost-effectiveness. Herein, long-range ordered 3D nanostructures and their design principles are introduced with an emphasis on electrocatalysts for energy conversion and plasmonic nanostructures for optical sensing. Among the various fabrication techniques, sequential solvent-injection-assisted nanotransfer printing is suggested as a practical fabrication platform for tunable long-range ordered 3D nanostructures composed of ultrahigh-resolution building blocks. Furthermore, the importance of understanding and controlling the 3D design parameters is discussed to realize more efficient energy conversion as well as effective surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy analyses, suggesting new solutions for clean energy and healthcare issues.

Uniform Periodic Bowtie SERS Substrate with Narrow Nanogaps Obtained by Monitored Pulsed Electrodeposition

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a highly sensitive technique with molecular specificity, making it an ideal analytical tool in various fields. However, the breadth of practical applications of SERS has been severely limited because it is still a great challenge to achieve simultaneously a high sensitivity and a high reproducibility. Herein, we report a highly controllable method to fabricate periodic bowtie SERS substrates with a narrow nanogap, high SERS enhancement, and good uniformity over a large area. The periodic bowtie template is first fabricated over a gold film by holographic lithography (HL), followed by Au deposition to obtain a conductive plasmonic bowtie array. The gap size is then narrowed down by pulsed electrodeposition of Ag simultaneously monitored in situ by electrochemical dark field spectroscopy. Thus, we are able to observe the most sensitive change in the scattering spectra when the gap is just about to merge and obtain uniform SERS substrates with a gap size down to around 5 nm. The average enhancement factor of 5 × 10⁷ to 1 × 10⁸ is obtained, which is 50 times larger than that from Au nanoparticle-assembled substrates and 140 times larger than that from commercial Klarite chips. This substrate offers a promising opportunity for SERS practical applications.

Superior Resonant Nanocavities Engineering on the Photonic Crystal-Coupled Emission Platform for the Detection of Femtomolar Iodide and Zeptomolar Cortisol

Although luminescence spectroscopy has been a promising sensing technology with widespread applications in point-of-care diagnostics and chem-bio detection, it fundamentally suffers from low signal collection efficiency, considerable background noise, poor photostability, and intrinsic omnidirectional emission properties. In this regard, surface plasmon-coupled emission, a versatile plasmon-enhanced detection platform with >50% signal collection efficiency, high directionality, and polarization has previously been explored to amplify the limit of detection of desired analytes. However, high Ohmic loss in metal-dependent plasmonic platforms has remained an inevitable challenge. Here, we develop a hybrid nanocavity interface on a template-free and loss-less photonic crystal-coupled emission (PCCE) platform by the quintessential integration of high refractive index dielectric Nd₂O₃ "Huygens sources" and sharp-edged silver nanoprisms (NPrs). While efficient forward light scattering characteristics of Nd₂O₃ nanorods (NRs) present 460-fold emission enhancements in PCCE, the tunable localized plasmon resonances of NPrs display high electromagnetic field confinement at sharp nanotips and protrusions, boosting the enhancements 947-fold. The judicious use of silver NPr (AgNPr) metal-Nd₂O₃ dielectric hybrid resonances in conjugation with surface-trapped Bloch surface waves of the one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPhC) displayed unprecedented >1300-fold enhancements. The experimental results are validated by excellent correlations with numerical calculations. The multifold hotspots generated by zero and nonzero nanogaps between the coassembly of NPrs, NRs, and 1DPhCs are used for (i) determination of hyper and hypothyroidism levels through monitoring the concentration of iodide (I^-) ions and (ii) single-molecule detection (zeptomolar) of the stress hormone, cortisol, through the synthesized cortisol-rhodamine B conjugate obtained using a simple esterification reaction.

Preparation of Monolayer Photonic Crystals from Ag Nanobulge-Deposited SiO2 Particles as Substrates for Reproducible SERS Assay of Trace Thiol Pesticide

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) greatly increases the detection sensitivity of Raman scattering. However, its real applications are often degraded due to the unrepeatable preparation of SERS substrates. Herein presented is a very facile and cost-effective method to reproducibly produce a novel type of SERS substrate, a monolayer photonic crystal (PC). With a building block of laboratory-prepared monodisperse SiO₂ particles deposited with space-tunable silver nanobulges (SiO₂@nAg), a PC substrate was first assembled at the air-water interface through needle tip flowing, then transferred onto a silicon slide by a pulling technique. The transferred monolayer PCs were characterized by SEM and AFM to have a hexagonal close-packed lattice. They could increase Raman scattering intensity by up to 2.2 × 10⁷-fold, as tested with p-aminothiophenol. The relative standard deviations were all below 5% among different substrates or among different locations on the same substrate. The excellent reproducibility was ascribed to the highly ordered structure of PCs, while the very high sensitivity was attributed to the strong hotspot effect caused by the appropriately high density of nanobulges deposited on SiO₂ particles and by a closed lattice. The PC substrates were validated to be applicable to the SERS assay of trace thiol pesticides. Thiram pesticide is an example determined in apple juice samples at a concentration 10²-fold lower than the food safety standard of China. This method is extendable to the analysis of other Raman-active thiol chemicals in different samples, and the substrate preparation approach can be modified for the fabrication of more PC substrates from other metallic nanobulge-deposited particles rather than silica only.

Sculpting Artificial Edges in Monolayer MoS2 for Controlled Formation of Surface-Enhanced Raman Hotspots

Hotspot engineering has the potential to transform the field of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) by enabling ultrasensitive and reproducible detection of analytes. However, the ability to controllably generate SERS hotspots, with desired location and geometry, over large-area substrates, has remained elusive. In this study, we sculpt artificial edges in monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) by low-power focused laser-cutting. We find that when gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are deposited on MoS₂ by drop-casting, the AuNPs tend to accumulate predominantly along the artificial edges. First-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate strong binding of AuNPs with the artificial edges due to dangling bonds that are ubiquitous on the unpassivated (laser-cut) edges. The dense accumulation of AuNPs along the artificial edges intensifies plasmonic effects in these regions, creating hotspots exclusively along the artificial edges. DFT further indicates that adsorption of AuNPs along the artificial edges prompts a transition from semiconducting to metallic behavior, which can further intensify the plasmonic effect along the artificial edges. These effects are observed exclusively for the sculpted (i.e., cut) edges and not observed for the MoS₂ surface (away from the cut edges) or along the natural (passivated) edges of the MoS₂ sheet. To demonstrate the practical utility of this concept, we use our substrate to detect Rhodamine B (RhB) with a large SERS enhancement (∼10⁴) at the hotspots for RhB concentrations as low as ∼10^-10 M. The single-step laser-etching process reported here can be used to controllably generate arrays of SERS hotspots. As such, this concept offers several advantages over previously reported SERS substrates that rely on electrochemical deposition, e-beam lithography, nanoimprinting, or photolithography. Whereas we have focused our study on MoS₂, this concept could, in principle, be extended to a variety of 2D material platforms.

Silver nanoparticle-assembled micro-bowl arrays for sensitive SERS detection of pesticide residue

It is of great significance to develop a simple and effective method for constructing large-scale high-quality surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate. Here, an Ag nanoparticle-assembled micro-bowl array was prepared by a close-packed polystyrene (PS) sphere monolayer templated electrodeposition approach. The fabricated Ag nanoparticle-assembled micro-bowl array shows high SERS sensitivity to rhodamine 6G (R6G) under an ultra-low concentration of 1 fM, and exhibits excellent SERS spectral uniformity with a small relative standard deviation (RSD) of 7.6% and good reproducibility (a RSD ∼8.2% for the average peak intensities from different batches of SERS substrates). The fabricated micro-bowl array SERS substrate was employed to detect pesticide residue (thiram and methyl parathion) on vegetables. The limit of detections (LODs) for the two pesticides are lower than the maximum residue limits (MRLs) set by the European Union respectively, showing promising application in rapid inspection of food safety.

Wafer-level fabrication of 3D nanoparticles assembled nanopillars and click chemistry modification for sensitive SERS detection of trace carbonyl compounds

In this work, we develop a new method for fabricating wafer-level gold nanoparticles covered silicon nanopillars (SNPs) combined with surface chemical modification to detect trace level carbonyl compounds based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technique. The SNPs are fabricated with an etching process using nano masks synthesized in oxygen-plasma bombardment of photoresist, and further deposited with gold nanoparticles on the surface, thus forming a 3D 'particles on pillars' nanostructure for sensitive SERS detection. The enhancement factor (EF) of the devices for R6G detection can achieve 1.56 × 10⁶ times compared with a flat Si substrate. We also developed an oximation click chemistry reaction procedure by chemically modifying the nanostructures with aminooxy dodecane thiol (ADT) self-assemble modification. The chip is further integrated with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic chamber, which allows fast and convenient detection of trace carbonyl compounds in liquid samples. The SERS detection capability was demonstrated by the dropwise addition of fluorescent carbonyl compounds before and after elution. Furthermore, the device was proved with high surface consistency(<70%) for repeated measurement, which has the potential for ppb(parts per billion) level concentration of carbonyl compounds detection.

Carboxylic Acid-Functionalized, Graphitic Layer-Coated Three-Dimensional SERS Substrate for Label-Free Analysis of Alzheimer's Disease Biomarkers

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)-based protein analysis is a promising alternative to existing early stage diagnoses. However, SERS research conducted thus far accompanies challenges such as nonuniformity of plasmonic nanostructures, irregular coating of analytes, and denaturation of proteins, which seriously limit the practicability of suggested approaches. Here, we introduce a carboxylic acid-functionalized and graphitic nanolayer-coated three-dimensional SERS substrate (CGSS) fabricated by sequential nanotransfer printing. The substrate consists of well-defined, uniform gold nanowire arrays for effective Raman signal enhancement and a strong protein-immobilization layer. With an enhancement factor (EF) of 5.5 × 10⁵, on par with the highest ever reported values, the CGSS allows the detection of protein conformational changes and the determination of protein concentration via Raman measurements. Exploiting the CGSS, we successfully measured the SERS spectra of Alzheimer's biomarkers, tau protein and amyloid β, based on which secondary structural changes were analyzed quantitatively.

Label-free serum detection of Trichinella spiralis using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy combined with multivariate analysis

Based on blood serum surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) analysis, this paper proposed a simple and unlabeled non-invasive serum detection for T. spiralis infection. Serum samples were collected and analyzed from 40 rats at 0 days post infection (dpi) (normal rats), 19 uninfected rats, and 16 rats infected with T. spiralis at 28 dpi, using SERS measurements. Multivariate statistical techniques, such as linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and principal components analysis (PCA), were used to analyze and identify the obtained blood serum SERS spectra. The diagnosis algorithms, based on PCA-LDA, achieved a diagnostic sensitivity of 87.5%, a specificity of 94.7%, and an accuracy of 91.4% for separating the samples infected with T. spiralis from the control samples. This exploratory study demonstrated that colloidal Ag NPs-based SERS serum analysis technique combined with PCA-LDA has a great potential in improving the detection of T. spiralis infection and onsite screening.

An efficient nanopatterning strategy for controllably fabricating ultra-small gaps as a highly sensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering platform

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.

Gap-enhanced Raman tags: fabrication, optical properties, and theranostic applications

Gap-enhanced Raman tags (GERTs) are emerging probes of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy that have found promising analytical, bioimaging, and theranostic applications. Because of their internal location, Raman reporter molecules are protected from unwanted external environments and particle aggregation and demonstrate superior SERS responses owing to the strongly enhanced electromagnetic fields in the gaps between metal core-shell structures. In this review, we discuss recent progress in the synthesis, simulation, and experimental studies of the optical properties and biomedical applications of novel spherically symmetrical and anisotropic GERTs fabricated with common plasmonic metals—gold (Au) and silver (Ag). Our discussion is focused on the design and synthetic strategies that ensure the optimal parameters and highest enhancement factors of GERTs for sensing and theranostics. In particular, we consider various core-shell structures with build-in nanogaps to explain why they would benefit the plasmonic GERTs as a superior SERS tag and how this would help future research in clinical analytics and therapeutics.

Broadband SERS detection with disordered plasmonic hybrid aggregates

Plasmonic nanostructures possessing broadband intense field enhancement over a large area are highly desirable for nanophotonic and plasmonic device applications. In this study, 3D Ag hybrid nanoaggregates (3D-Ag-HNAs) are achieved via a highly efficient oblique angle gas-phase cluster beam deposition method. Not only can such structures produce a high density of plasmonic hot-spots to improve Raman sensitivity, but more importantly they generate kissing point-geometric singularities with a broadband optical response. We succeed in obtaining an experimental SERS enhancement factor beyond 4 × 10⁷ in the visible range, providing an optimal sensing platform for different analytes. Combined with good uniformity, reproducibility and ease of fabrication, our 3D-Ag-HNA offers a candidate for new generations of SERS systems.

Engineering State-of-the-Art Plasmonic Nanomaterials for SERS-Based Clinical Liquid Biopsy Applications

Precision oncology, defined as the use of the molecular understanding of cancer to implement personalized patient treatment, is currently at the heart of revolutionizing oncology practice. Due to the need for repeated molecular tumor analyses in facilitating precision oncology, liquid biopsies, which involve the detection of noninvasive cancer biomarkers in circulation, may be a critical key. Yet, existing liquid biopsy analysis technologies are still undergoing an evolution to address the challenges of analyzing trace quantities of circulating tumor biomarkers reliably and cost effectively. Consequently, the recent emergence of cutting-edge plasmonic nanomaterials represents a paradigm shift in harnessing the unique merits of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) biosensing platforms for clinical liquid biopsy applications. Herein, an expansive review on the design/synthesis of a new generation of diverse plasmonic nanomaterials, and an updated evaluation of their demonstrated SERS-based uses in liquid biopsies, such as circulating tumor cells, tumor-derived extracellular vesicles, as well as circulating cancer proteins, and tumor nucleic acids is presented. Existing challenges impeding the clinical translation of plasmonic nanomaterials for SERS-based liquid biopsy applications are also identified, and outlooks and insights into advancing this rapidly growing field for practical patient use are provided.

Multiple-resonant pad-rod nanoantennas for surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy

Due to the ability to tightly confine electromagnetic energy, plasmonic nanoantennas have been widely studied for surface-enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) spectroscopy, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy as well as refractive index sensing. However, most of the nanoantennas are limited by narrow resonant band and it is rather challenging to detect multiple molecular fingerprints. In this work, we report dual and triple- resonant pad-rod plasmonic nanoantennas which are nanorods with large pads at their ends placed above gold (Au) mirror separated by a spacer layer. By adjusting the geometries, the nanoantennas have demonstrated dual and triple resonant bands enabling detection of molecular fingerprints at different wavelength. The calculated maximum SEIRA enhancement factor is around 1.8 × 10⁶, which is among the highest reported so far. The pad-rod plasmonic nanoantennas have been used for the detection of molecules of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) by SEIRA and fingerprints of C=O and C-H bands are clearly identified. This work has shown that the multiple-resonant pad-rod plasmonic nanoantennas are promising for chemical and biomolecular sensing by the detection of vibrational fingerprints with SEIRA.

Effective plasmon coupling in conical cavities for sensitive surface enhanced Raman scattering with quantitative analysis ability

Conical silver nanocavity arrays are fabricated by directly depositing Ag on porous alumina templates with V-shaped nanopores. By controlling the thickness of deposited Ag, complete and cracked cavity arrays are constructed respectively. The cracked cavity arrays with the cavity wall consisting of Ag nanoparticles are demonstrated to exhibit higher surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity than the complete one. Numerical simulation reveals that an effective coupling of the cavity modes with the surface plasmons of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) generates a significantly enhanced local electric field on the cavity wall responsible for the high SERS activity. The optimized cavity array presents an enhancement factor (EF) of ∼7.4 × 106 and an excellent uniformity with a relative standard deviation (RSD) as small as ∼5% for rhodamine 6G (R6G) molecules. Moreover, a good linear correlation between the logarithmic Raman intensity and the molecular concentration endows the array with quantitative analysis ability. These cavity arrays therefore are of great potential for qualitative and quantitative chemical and biomedical analysis with high sensitivity and reproducibility.

In situ H2O2 generation with gold nanoflowers as the coreactant accelerator for enzyme-free electrochemiluminescent immunosensing

In traditional electrochemiluminescence (ECL) analysis, gold nanomaterials are commonly used as a tool for signal amplification and linking antibodies due to their good electrical conductivity and biocompatibility. Here, we found that multitipped gold nanoparticles-gold nanoflowers (AuNFs) as coreactant accelerator have good catalytic activity for the reduction of dissolved oxygen (O₂) to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) using tris (hydroxymethyl) aminomethane (Tris) as electron donor. Based on this, a new enzyme-free and label-free ECL immunosensor have been constructed for the detection of α-fetoprotein (AFP). In this system, due to the unique geometric and spatial effects of AuNFs, the dissolved O₂ as endogenous coreactant was catalyzed by AuNFs to produce H₂O₂ using Tris as an electron donor. The in situ generated H₂O₂ can more efficiently produce various electrogenerated reactive oxygen species (ROSs) as the important intermediates on the electrode surface. Then, oxidation of luminol reacts with ROSs significantly amplifies the luminol ECL signal. Under optimal experimental conditions, the proposed ECL immunosensor was able to detect the AFP concentration from 0.01 to 100 ng mL^-1, with a low detection limit of 3.4 pg mL^-1 (S/N = 3). In addition, the prepared ITO-based sensor is similar to a micro-test chip and convenient to use, thus making it suitable for clinical use as a disposable device in point-of-care tests (POCTs).

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering induced by the coupling of the guided mode with localized surface plasmon resonances

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is considered to be a powerful analysis tool for the detection of molecules due to its ultra-high sensitivity and non-destructive nature. Here, we introduce a new type of hybrid SERS substrate, where gold nanorods are assembled on a structured support containing a top dielectric grating, dielectric spacer and gold mirror. Compared with the conventional metal nanoparticle assemblies on a flat support, our hybrid substrate shows an approximately 30-fold enhancement in the SERS signal. Numerical simulations show that such a substantial boost arises from the amplification of the absorption cross sections of the gold nanorods and the heating of the "hot spots" around the gold nanorods by the coupling between the guided mode in the structured support and the localized surface plasmon resonances. This mode coupling can be easily tuned by changing the thickness of the spacer. In addition, this substrate also presents uniform spot-to-spot and sample-to-sample SERS signals of the analyte molecules (relative standard deviations down to 7.4% and 6.1%, respectively). Moreover, the performance of this substrate has been demonstrated with the detection of melamine and cytosine, suggesting its great potential in food safety regulation and bioassays. This grating-mirror-enhanced strategy is available to any other SERS-active nanoparticles synthesized by chemical methods, which might offer new opportunities for improving the performance of the chemically prepared nanoparticles in realistic SERS-related applications.