Correlation of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) with the surface density of gold nanoparticles: evaluation of the critical number of SERS tags for a detectable signal.

ABSTRACT: The use of plasmonic nanotags based on the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) effect is highly promising for several applications in analytical chemistry, biotechnological assays and nanomedicine. To this end, a crucial parameter is the minimum number of SERS tags that allows for the collection of intense Raman signals under real operating conditions. Here, SERS Au nanotags (AuNTs) based on clustered gold nanoparticles are deposited on a substrate and analyzed in the same region using Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. In this way, the Raman spectra and the surface density of the SERS tags are correlated directly, showing that 1 tag/µm² is enough to generate an intense signal above the noise level at 633 nm with an excitation power of only 0.65 mW and

SUBMITTER: Amendola V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6541332 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature