Gold nanodome-patterned microchips for intracellular surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Area of Science:

• Nanotechnology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Spectroscopy

Background:

• Top-down surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates offer high control over gold nanopatterns and localized surface plasmon resonance.
• Intracellular SERS typically uses gold nanoparticles, leading to variable and uncontrollable enhancement factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the use of top-down gold-nanostructured microchips for intracellular sensing.
• To develop a tunable and reproducible fabrication method for these microchips.
• To enable label-free detection of extraneous molecules within cells using SERS.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of tunable and reproducible top-down gold-nanostructured microchips.
• Observation of intracellular uptake of the nanostructured microchips.
• Proof-of-concept intracellular SERS experiment for label-free molecule detection.

Main Results:

• Successful intracellular uptake of gold-nanostructured microchips was observed.
• No immediate adverse effects on cell viability were found.
• Label-free detection of extraneous molecules within cells was achieved via SERS.

Conclusions:

• Top-down SERS substrates can be successfully integrated for intracellular sensing.
• This approach offers a reproducible and controllable method for intracellular SERS.
• This work is a significant step towards time-dependent and quantitative intracellular SERS analysis.