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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Fabricating Nanogaps by Nanoskiving
Published on: May 13, 2013
Fabricated nanogap-rich plasmonic nanostructures through an optothermal surface bubble in a droplet
Abstract:
A rapid and cost-effective method for the fabrication of nanogap-rich structures is demonstrated in this Letter. The method utilizes the Marangoni convection around an optothermal surface bubble inside a liquid droplet with a nanoliter volume. The liquid droplet containing metallic nanoparticles reduces the sample consumption and confines the liquid flow. The optothermal surface bubble creates a strong convective flow that allows for the rapid deposition of the metallic nanoparticles to form nanogap-rich structures on any substrate under ambient conditions. This method will enable a broad range of applications such as biosensing, environmental analysis, and nonlinear optics.
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