Pinhole Effect on the Melting Behavior of Ag@Al2O3 SERS Substrates

High-temperature surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensing is significant for practical detections, and pinhole-containing (PC) metal@oxide structures possessing both enhanced thermal stability and superior SERS sensitivity are served as promising SERS sensors at extreme sensing conditions. Through tuning the Al2O3 precursors' exposure time during atomic layer deposition (ALD), Al2O3 shells with different amount of pinholes were covered over Ag nanorods (Ag NRs). By virtue of these unique PC Ag@Al2O3 nanostructures, herein we provide an excellent platform to investigate the relationship between the pinhole rate of Al2O3 shells and the melting behavior, high-temperature SERS performances of these core-shell nanostructures. Pinhole effect on the melting procedures of PC Ag@Al2O3 substrates was characterized in situ via their reflectivity variations during heating, and the specific melting point was quantitatively estimated. It is found that the melting point of PC Ag@Al2O3 raised along with the decrement of pinhole rate, and substrates with less pinholes exhibited better thermal stability but sacrificed SERS efficiency. This work achieved highly reliable and precise control of the pinholes over Al2O3 shells, offering sensitive SERS substrates with intensified thermal stability and superior SERS performances at extreme sensing conditions.