Rapid, Tunable, and Scalable Patterning of Plasmonic Films for Biosensing Applications

Large-scale and rapid fabrication of tailorable, uniform, and patterned plasmonic surfaces is of significant interest within the biosensing application space. Prior attempts have primarily investigated solution and thin film-based methods, which often incorporate complex synthesis procedures or high-temperature processes, limiting scalability and tunability of the optical response. Herein, we present a simple two-step fabrication method that enables the fabrication of large-scale (>in²), rapid (<10 min/in²), and uniformly sized (polydispersity index < 0.2) plasmonic nanoparticles using a rapid thin film dewetting followed by laser restructuring process. Using the fabricated films, we demonstrate tunability in particle size and packing density by altering laser processing conditions and characterize broadband electromagnetic enhancement using finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations. With the rationally designed films, we demonstrate applicability for biosensing using plasmon-enhanced florescence within a well plate format and surface-enhanced Raman scattering, therefore showing the utility and versatility of our fabricated films.