Dispersible gold nanorod dimers with sub-5 nm gaps as local amplifiers for surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Kyle D. Osberg, Matthew Rycenga, Nadine Harris, Abrin L. Schmucker, Mark R. Langille, George C. Schatz, Chad A. Mirkin*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

124 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report the synthesis of solution-dispersible, 35 nm diameter gold nanorod dimers with gaps as small as ∼2 nm for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Using on-wire lithography (OWL), we prepared tailorable dimers in high yield and high monodispersity (∼96% dimers) that produce both large and reproducible SERS signals with enhancement factors of (6.8 ± 0.7) × 10 8 for single dimers in air and 1.2 × 10 6 for ensemble-averaged solution measurements. Furthermore, we show that these structures, which are the smallest ever made by OWL, can be used to detect molecules on flat surfaces and in aqueous solutions. When combined, these attributes with respect to sensitivity, reproducibility, and tailorability lead to a novel and powerful local amplification system for SERS applications.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3828-3832
Number of pages5
JournalNano letters
Volume12
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 11 2012

Keywords

  • On-wire lithography
  • gold nanorods
  • nanoparticle arrays
  • plasmonic dimers
  • surface-enhanced Raman scattering

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Bioengineering
  • General Chemistry
  • General Materials Science

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