Facile fabrication of large area nanostructures for efficient surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Abstract

Large area SERS (surface-enhanced Raman scattering)-active films with closely packed nanoembossed Ag arrays were reproducibly fabricated by the replication method of polymer surfaces with nano-size grooved Al masters. Three different sizes (60, 105 and 420 nm) of nanoembossed polymer surface were produced from three different replication masters obtained by controlled anodization conditions of Al, which could be further coated with silver in various thicknesses by an ion sputtering technique. Nanoembossed Ag films with an emboss size of 420 nm, uniformly formed over all the areas of 1 × 1 cm², exhibit very even SERS activity and the enhancement factor estimated using benzenethiol as a prototype adsorbate reaches as large as 6.6 × 10⁵. Many replicas of polyethylene and polystyrene could be produced from one replication master by this simple replication method with high reproducibility. Almost the same SERS intensities were observed in ten different spots of each replica and twenty different replicas from one replication master.