Ordered array of metal particles on semishell separated with ultrathin oxide : fabrication and SERS properties

Metal particles in gap cavities provide an interesting system to achieve hybrid local surface plasmon modes for local field enhancement. Here, we demonstrate a relatively simple method to fabricate Ag nanoparticles positioned on Ag semishells separated by a thin (~5 nm) dielectric layer. The obtaine...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Li, Xianglin, Wang, Zhiwei, Shen, Zexiang, Tan, Chiew Kei, Tok, Alfred Iing Yoong
Other Authors: School of Materials Science & Engineering
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/79535
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/49054
Description
Summary:Metal particles in gap cavities provide an interesting system to achieve hybrid local surface plasmon modes for local field enhancement. Here, we demonstrate a relatively simple method to fabricate Ag nanoparticles positioned on Ag semishells separated by a thin (~5 nm) dielectric layer. The obtained structure can provide strong local electric field enhancement for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The fabrication of the ordered array structure was realized by nanosphere self-assembly, atomic layer deposition, and metal thin-film dewetting. Numerical simulation proved that, compared to the conventional metal semishell arrays, the additional Ag particles introduce extra hot spots particularly in the valley regions between adjacent Ag semishells. As a result, the SERS enhancement factor of the metal semishell-based plasmonic structure could be further improved by an order of magnitude. The developed novel plasmonic structure also shows good potential for application in plasmon-enhanced solar water-splitting devices.