Self-assembled plasmonic nanoring cavity arrays for SERS and LSPR biosensing

Area of Science:

• Plasmonics
• Nanotechnology
• Surface Chemistry

Background:

• Metallic nanostructures exhibit unique optical properties due to surface plasmon resonance.
• Controlling nanoscale gaps is crucial for enhancing plasmonic effects and sensing capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop self-assembled plasmonic nanoring cavity arrays on curved metallic nanosphere gratings.
• To precisely tune sub-10-nm gaps for enhanced light-matter interactions.
• To demonstrate improved sensing performance for biological analytes.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of highly ordered metallic nanosphere gratings.
• Atomic layer deposition for precise gap size tuning.
• Characterization of the hybrid nanostructure and its optical properties.

Main Results:

• Formation of self-assembled nanoring cavities alongside nanosphere grating curvature.
• Achieved sub-10-nm gap sizes with high precision over cm-sized areas.
• Demonstrated enhanced light-to-plasmon coupling efficiency.
• Observed improved detection limits in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS).

Conclusions:

• The developed hybrid nanostructure offers a promising platform for advanced plasmonic sensing.
• The precise control over nanoscale gaps significantly boosts SERS performance.
• The substrates enable sensitive detection of biological analytes like adenine.