Hybrid micro/nano-structure formation by angular laser texturing of Si surface for surface enhanced Raman scattering

Abstract

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has drawn much research interest in the past decades as an efficient technique to detect low-concentration molecules. Among many technologies, which can be used to fabricate SERS substrates, laser ablation is a simple and high-speed method to produce large-area SERS substrates. This work investigates the angular texturing effect by dynamic laser ablation and its influence on SERS signals. By tuning the angle between the Si surface and laser irradiation, the distributions and sizes of laser induced hybrid micro/nano-structures are studied. By decorating with a silver film, plenty of hot spots can be created among these structures for SERS. It is found that when the incident laser angle is 15° at the laser fluence of 16.0 J/cm², the SERS performance is well optimized. This work realizes antisymmetric distribution of nanoparticles deposited on Si surface, which provides a flexible tuning of the hybrid micro/nano-structures' fabrication with high controllability for practical applications.

Hierarchical microstructures with high spatial frequency laser induced periodic surface structures possessing different orientations created by femtosecond laser ablation of silicon in liquids

“…Laser ablation offers a versatile platform that can simultaneously induce surface structures [1][2][3] and synthesize nanomaterials [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] for diverse applications, such as wettability control [14][15][16][17] , bioimaging 6,18 , cellular growth manipulation [19][20][21] , lithium-ion batteries 22 , surface enhanced Ra-man scattering (SERS) detection 23,24 , catalysis/ photocatalysis/electrochemical-catalysis 6,7,25 and antifriction [26][27][28][29] . Laser processing also enables the microfabrication of three-dimensional structures and devices 30,31 .…”

Self‐Organized Periodic Microholes Array Formation on Aluminum Surface via Femtosecond Laser Ablation Induced Incubation Effect

“…Laser surface structuring has been demonstrated to be a versatile and reliable technology to create various micro/nanostructures on solid surfaces . These structures have shown wide applications to fabricate functional materials by controlling the surface properties of electronics, mechanics, wettability, and optical response . Micro/nanoholes array is one of the most actively studied structures due to its extensive applications in making via holes of hand phones and cooling holes of airplane turbine engine .…”

Hedgehog Inspired CuO Nanowires/Cu2O Composites for Broadband Visible‐Light‐Driven Recyclable Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering

“…Due to small scattering cross sections of the detected molecules, a plenty of plasmonic nanostructures primarily based on the electromagnetic field enhancement are widely investigated, which usually rely on chemical syntheses or complex lithographic approaches to achieve high‐density of hotspots . Among them, laser processing is an intriguing approach to fabricate micro/nanostructures over a large area at a high speed . Nevertheless, most of these traditional SERS substrates can only be applied as single use due to the cross‐contamination of probe molecules .…”