AVS 45th International Symposium
    Applied Surface Science Division Monday Sessions
       Session AS-MoP

Paper AS-MoP12
New SERS-Active Substrates Based on Thin Films of Noble Metals

Monday, November 2, 1998, 5:30 pm, Room Hall A

Session: Aspects of Applied Surface Science Poster Session
Presenter: L. He, Pennsylvania State University
Authors: L. He, Pennsylvania State University
S.P. Mulvaney, Pennsylvania State University
S.K. St. Angelo, Pennsylvania State University
M.J. Natan, Pennsylvania State University
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A new approach to fabricating SERS substrates in which coats of Ag (or Au) are evaporated on Ag-coated Au colloid monolayers is described. The newly developed substrate circumvents the problems faced in previously reported techniques that use commercial plating solutions to chemically reduce Ag@super +@ onto Au colloid monolayers. The optical properties of the resulting new substrates depend critically upon particle size and interparticle spacing in the initial monolayer as well as on the amounts of chemically deposited Ag and evaporated metal. Under certain condition, extremely large enhancement factors can be realized with excellent spot-to-spot and sample-to-sample reproducibility. This presentation will describe characterization of these novel substrates by AFM, field emission SEM, and other techniques, and will provide a rationale for the observed SERS behavior.