Issue 26, 2025, Issue in Progress

Investigation of local field enhancement near plain and shell-coated gold nanospheres for the optimization of surface enhanced spectroscopy

Abstract

In this paper we perform a detailed and systematic investigation of electromagnetic field localization and enhancement, at different excitation wavelengths in the 520–640 nm domain, near spherical gold nanoparticles (AuNSs) of different sizes, using Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) simulations. We provide clear evidence of the size-dependent local electromagnetic field distribution and plasmon-dependent near-field intensity at the surface of plain and DNA-mimicking shell-coated individual AuNSs. This represents a crucial aspect which needs to be taken into consideration in the optimization of platforms based on AuNSs for plasmon-enhanced spectroscopies. Our set of FDTD simulations reveal useful insights regarding the extent of the spectral red-shift of the maximum electromagnetic field enhancement position relative to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) band, alongside an interesting AuNS size-dependent field enhancement variation in the 520–640 nm excitation range. Finally, we correlate some of the main important theoretical findings from FDTD simulations with experimental data from Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) and Metal Enhanced Fluorescence (MEF) assays based on particular types of plain and shell-coated AuNSs.

Graphical abstract: Investigation of local field enhancement near plain and shell-coated gold nanospheres for the optimization of surface enhanced spectroscopy

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 May 2025
Accepted
15 Jun 2025
First published
20 Jun 2025
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2025,15, 20848-20862

Investigation of local field enhancement near plain and shell-coated gold nanospheres for the optimization of surface enhanced spectroscopy

A. Craciun, D. Stoia, A. Azziz, S. Astilean, M. Focsan and M. Lamy de la Chapelle, RSC Adv., 2025, 15, 20848 DOI: 10.1039/D5RA03633J

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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