Laser polarization as a critical factor on the SERS-based molecular sensing performance of nano-gapped Au nanowires

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: Roa, Simón, Kaihara, Terunori, Pedano, María Laura, Parsamyan, Henrik, Vavassori, Paolo
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866929533736714240
author Roa, Simón
Kaihara, Terunori
Pedano, María Laura
Parsamyan, Henrik
Vavassori, Paolo
author_facet Roa, Simón
Kaihara, Terunori
Pedano, María Laura
Parsamyan, Henrik
Vavassori, Paolo
contents Nowadays, Au dimer-based nanostructures are exhaustively studied due to their outstanding potential as plasmonic nanoantennas for future applications in high-sensitivity molecular sensing by Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). In this work, we analyze nano-gapped Au nanowires (NWs) or Au-NWs dimers for designing efficient nanoantennas, reporting an exhaustive study about dimer length and laser polarization orientation effects on their SERS-based molecular sensing performance. Arrays of nanoantennas with gaps about 22 (+/-)4 [nm], nominal square cross-sections of 60 [nm] x 60 [nm], and different lengths from 300 [nm] up to 1200 [nm] were fabricated by Au evaporation and subsequent e-beam lithography. SERS performance was studied by confocal Raman microscopy using a linearly-polarized 633 [nm] laser. A critical impact of the polarization alignment on the spectral resolution of the studied Raman marker imprint was observed. Results show that the Raman signal is maximized by aligning the polarization orientation with the nanowire long axis, it is reduced by increasing the relative angle, and it is abruptly minimized when both are perpendicular. These observations were consistent with numerical simulations carried out by the FDTD method, which predict a similar dependence between the orientation of linearly-polarized light and electric-near field amplification in the nano-gap zone. Our results provide an interesting paradigm and relevant insights in determining the role of laser polarization on the Raman signal enhancement in nano-gapped Au nanowires, showing the key role of this measurement condition on the SERS-based molecular sensing efficiency of this kind of nanostructure.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_06753
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Laser polarization as a critical factor on the SERS-based molecular sensing performance of nano-gapped Au nanowires
Roa, Simón
Kaihara, Terunori
Pedano, María Laura
Parsamyan, Henrik
Vavassori, Paolo
Optics
Applied Physics
Nowadays, Au dimer-based nanostructures are exhaustively studied due to their outstanding potential as plasmonic nanoantennas for future applications in high-sensitivity molecular sensing by Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). In this work, we analyze nano-gapped Au nanowires (NWs) or Au-NWs dimers for designing efficient nanoantennas, reporting an exhaustive study about dimer length and laser polarization orientation effects on their SERS-based molecular sensing performance. Arrays of nanoantennas with gaps about 22 (+/-)4 [nm], nominal square cross-sections of 60 [nm] x 60 [nm], and different lengths from 300 [nm] up to 1200 [nm] were fabricated by Au evaporation and subsequent e-beam lithography. SERS performance was studied by confocal Raman microscopy using a linearly-polarized 633 [nm] laser. A critical impact of the polarization alignment on the spectral resolution of the studied Raman marker imprint was observed. Results show that the Raman signal is maximized by aligning the polarization orientation with the nanowire long axis, it is reduced by increasing the relative angle, and it is abruptly minimized when both are perpendicular. These observations were consistent with numerical simulations carried out by the FDTD method, which predict a similar dependence between the orientation of linearly-polarized light and electric-near field amplification in the nano-gap zone. Our results provide an interesting paradigm and relevant insights in determining the role of laser polarization on the Raman signal enhancement in nano-gapped Au nanowires, showing the key role of this measurement condition on the SERS-based molecular sensing efficiency of this kind of nanostructure.
title Laser polarization as a critical factor on the SERS-based molecular sensing performance of nano-gapped Au nanowires
topic Optics
Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.06753