Possible application of laser-induced backside dry etching technique for fabrication of SERS substrate surfaces

Fabrication of SERS Active Surface on Polyimide Sample by Excimer Laser Irradiation

“…As a conclusion, the applied polyimide is a cheap material for SERS substrate purposes, while nanosecond excimer laser irradiation is a fast production method without the need of any specific toolkits excepting the irradiating laser source. Regarding the structured surface of the created substrate, the size of the SERS active area covered at least half of the total irradiated area in case of every fluence values, which is more than 7 times larger in absolute value than the most enhancing area in our former experiments, where the SERS substrate was prepared by LIBDE, which is a slightly complicated method for material fabrication [11]. In addition, considering the 13% standard deviation in the measured Raman intensities of the characteristic peaks of the R6G, the reproducibility of the produced structures was good.…”

“…For all fluences, the gray part (marked with green and (1) in Figure 2)-where significant Raman enhancements could be observed-covers at least half of the total irradiated area. This means that the ratio of this SERS useful area compared to the total irradiated area is at least twice more than it was for the etched holes prepared by LIBDE in our former experiments [11]. Figure 3 represents high magnification SEM images of the SERS active surfaces, where conical-like structures with variable size can be noticed typically.…”

“…In our previous study, the applicability of the laserinduced backside dry etching (LIBDE) technique was demonstrated to form such nanostructures on the surface of a fused silica plate, which are able to produce the SERS effect, when they are subsequently coated with a conducting layer. This method proved to be a relatively cheap and promising technique in the production of SERS substrates without the necessity of specific toolkits; however, the reproducibility of the most suitable surface structures and the size of the nanostructured area on the surface need to be improved for practical use [11].…”

SERS detection of expired tetracycline hydrochloride with an optical fiber nano-probe

“…Many kinds of Raman substrates preparation and application were studied [40][41][42], and Au, Ag and Cu nanoparticles or film were used as the main substrates. The mechanisms for the enhancement in SERS are attributed largely to electromagnetic field enhancement due to localized surface plasmon resonance and also to chemical interactions of the analyte with the substrates.…”

“…Some researchers have reported counterfeit and adulterated drugs using Raman spectroscopy, 19,[34][35][36][37][38] which be a very useful tool for non-destructive counterfeit detection of drugs. 39 Many kinds of Raman substrate preparation methods and applications were studied, [40][41][42] and Au, Ag and Cu nanoparticles or lms were used as the main substrates. The mechanisms for the enhancement in SERS are attributed largely to electromagnetic eld enhancement due to localized surface plasmon resonance and also to chemical interactions of the analyte with the substrates.…”