High-Speed Fluctuations in Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Intensities from Various Nanostructures

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The observation of single molecule events using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a well-established phenomenon. These events are characterized by strong fluctuations in SERS intensities. High-speed SERS intensity fluctuations (in the microsecond time scale) have been reported for experiments involving single metallic particles. In this work, the high-speed SERS behavior of six different types of nanostructured metal systems (Ag nanoshells, Ag nanostars, Ag aggregated spheres, Au aggregated spheres, particle-on-mirror, and Ag deposited on microspheres) was investigated. All systems demonstrated high-speed SERS intensity fluctuations. Statistical analysis of the duration of the SERS fluctuations yielded tailed distributions with average event durations around 100 μs. Although the characteristics of the fluctuations seem to be random, the results suggest interesting differences between the system that might be associated with the strength distribution and density of the localized SERS hotspots. For instance, systems with more localized fields, such as nanostars, present faster fluctuation bursts compared to metallic aggregates that support spread-out fields. The results presented here appear to confirm that high-speed SERS intensity fluctuations are a fundamental characteristic of the SERS effect.

Department(s)

Physics and Engineering

Publication Title

Applied Spectroscopy

Volume

74

Issue

11

First Page

1398

Last Page

1406

Publication Date

11-1-2020

DOI

10.1177/0003702820940391

ISSN

00037028

E-ISSN

19433530

PubMed ID

32677843

Comments

Student authors: Britta Nordberg, Marit Engevik, Physics and Engineering

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