Femtosecond laser patterned silicon embedded with gold nanostars as a hybrid SERS substrate for pesticide detection

We have developed simple and cost-effective surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates for the trace detection of pesticide (thiram and thiabendazole) and dye (methylene blue and Nile blue) molecules. Surface patterns (micro/nanostructures) on silicon (Si) substrates were fabricated using the technique of femtosecond (fs) laser ablation in ambient air. Different surface patterns were achieved by tuning the number of laser pulses per unit area (4200, 8400, 42 000, and 84 000 pulses per mm²) on Si. Subsequently, chemically synthesized gold (Au) nanostars were embedded in these laser-patterned areas of Si to achieve a plasmonic active hybrid SERS substrate. Further, the SERS performance of the as-prepared Au nanostar embedded Si substrates were tested with different probe molecules. The as-prepared substrates allowed us to detect a minimum concentration of 0.1 ppm in the case of thiram, 1 ppm in the case of thiabendazole (TBZ), 1.6 ppb in the case of methylene blue (MB), and 1.8 ppb in case of Nile blue (NB). All these were achieved using a simple, field-deployable, portable Raman spectrometer. Additionally, the optimized SERS substrate demonstrated ∼21 times higher SERS enhancement than the Au nanostar embedded plain Si substrate. Furthermore, the optimized SERS platform was utilized to detect a mixture of dyes (MB + NB) and pesticides (thiram + TBZ). The possible reasons for the observed additional enhancement are elucidated.

The performance of surface enhanced Raman scattering and spatial resolution with triangular plate dimer from ultra-ultraviolet to near-infrared range

The theoretical research on surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) of triangular plate dimer (TPD) is of great significance for the design of experimental substrates. In this paper, the SERS properties of the TPD with Au, Ag, Al and Cu have been theoretical investigated in the ultra-ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared region. The influence of the TPD configuration, including the tip radian, the dimer distance and the aspect ratio on the electric field, Raman enhancement and spatial resolution are studied by the finite element method. The results show that there are dipole resonance band and quadruple dipole resonance band in the surface plasmon resonance band of TPD. The tip radian and dimer distance play the dominant role in the electric field enhancement, and the aspect ratio can be mainly used to tune the peak position of the electric field. The smaller tip radian and dimer distance will produce a stronger localized electric field and a small red shift of the peak position. Adjusting the aspect ratio can tune the position of electric field peak from ultraviolet (UV) to near-infrared without changing the peak value of the electric field significantly, especially for Al TPD. The maximum Raman enhancement factor of Au, Ag and Cu all reach 11 orders of magnitude, and 9 orders of magnitude for Al. The spatial resolution changes linearly with the gap distance, and the maximum spatial distributions of Au, Ag, Al and Cu achieve 0.65 nm, 0.67 nm, 0.69 nm and 0.70 nm with the dimer distance of 1 nm. Our results not only provide a better theoretical guidance for the optimization of TPD substrates in the SERS experiment, but also extend its application scope from ultra-UV to near-infrared range.

Fabrication of nano/microstructures for SERS substrates using an electrochemical method

Based on an electrochemical method, three-dimensional arrayed nanopore structures are machined onto a Mg surface. The structured Mg surface is coated with a thin gold (Au) film, which is used as a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate. A rhodamine 6G (R6G) probe molecule is used as the detection agent for the SERS measurement. Different sizes of arrayed micro/nanostructures are fabricated by different treatment time using the electrochemical process. The topographies of these micro/nanostructures and the thickness of the Au film have an influence on the Raman intensity of the Mg substrate. Furthermore, when the thickness of Au film coating is held constant, the Raman intensity on the structured Mg substrates is about five times higher after a treatment time of 1 min when compared with other treatment times. The SERS enhancement factor ranges from 10⁶ to 1.75 × 10⁷ under these experimental conditions. Additionally, a 10^-6 mol·L^-1 solution of lysozyme was successfully detected using the Mg-Au nanopore substrates. Our low-cost method is reproducible, homogeneous, and suitable for the fabrication of SERS substrates.

Label-free highly sensitive probe detection with novel hierarchical SERS substrates fabricated by nanoindentation and chemical reaction methods

Nanostructures have been widely employed in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates. Recently, in order to obtain a higher enhancement factor at a lower detection limit, hierarchical structures, including nanostructures and nanoparticles, appear to be viable SERS substrate candidates. Here we describe a novel method integrating the nanoindentation process and chemical redox reaction to machine a hierarchical SERS substrate. The micro/nanostructures are first formed on a Cu(110) plane and then Ag nanoparticles are generated on the structured copper surface. The effect of the indentation process parameters and the corrosion time in the AgNO₃ solution on the Raman intensities of the SERS substrate with hierarchical structures are experimentally studied. The intensity and distribution of the electric field of single and multiple Ag nanoparticles on the surface of a plane and with multiple micro/nanostructures are studied with COMSOL software. The feasibility of the hierarchical SERS substrate is verified using R6G molecules. Finally, the enhancement factor using malachite green molecules was found to reach 5.089 × 10⁹, which demonstrates that the production method is a simple, reproducible and low-cost method for machining a highly sensitive, hierarchical SERS substrate.

Molecular Dynamics Modeling and Simulation of Diamond Cutting of Cerium

The coupling between structural phase transformations and dislocations induces challenges in understanding the deformation behavior of metallic cerium at the nanoscale. In the present work, we elucidate the underlying mechanism of cerium under ultra-precision diamond cutting by means of molecular dynamics modeling and simulations. The molecular dynamics model of diamond cutting of cerium is established by assigning empirical potentials to describe atomic interactions and evaluating properties of two face-centered cubic cerium phases. Subsequent molecular dynamics simulations reveal that dislocation slip dominates the plastic deformation of cerium under the cutting process. In addition, the analysis based on atomic radial distribution functions demonstrates that there are trivial phase transformations from the γ-Ce to the δ-Ce occurred in both machined surface and formed chip. Following investigations on machining parameter dependence reveal the optimal machining conditions for achieving high quality of machined surface of cerium.

Fabrication of gold-coated PDMS surfaces with arrayed triangular micro/nanopyramids for use as SERS substrates

Using the tip-based continuous indentation process, arrays of three-dimensional pyramidal cavities have been successfully machined on a copper template and the structures were successfully transferred to a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface using a reverse nanoimprinting approach. The structured PDMS surface is coated with a thin Au film, and the final substrate is demonstrated as a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrate. Rhodamine 6G (R6G) was used as a probe molecule in the present study to confirm the SERS measurements. Arrays of micro/nanostructures of different dimensions were formed by the overlap of pyramidal cavities with different adjacent distances using the tip-based continuous indentation process. The effects of the reverse nanoimprinting process and coating process on the final topography of the structures are studied. The experimental results show that the Raman intensity of the Au-film-coated PDMS substrate is influenced by the topography of the micro/nanostructures and by the thickness of the Au film. The Raman intensity of 1362 cm^-1 R6G peak on the structured Au-film-coated PDMS substrate is about 8 times higher than the SERS tests on a commercial substrate (Q-SERS). A SERS enhancement factor ranging from 7.5 × 10⁵ to 6 × 10⁶ was achieved using the structured Au-film-coated PDMS surface, and it was demonstrated that the method proposed in this paper is reliable, replicable, homogeneous and low-cost for the fabrication of SERS substrates.