Chemical approach to fabrication of semicontinuous Au nanolayers for SERS applications

Abstract

The fabrication of semicontinuous Au films on glass slides by using a chemical approach was carried out to test their surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) properties. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy were used for characterization of the morphology and optical properties of fabricated gold nanolayers. The SERS properties of Au films were tested using p-mercaptoaniline (pMA). A maximum estimated SERS enhancement factor greater than 106 can be achieved for this compound. SERS enhancement factors are shown to be dependent on the Au nanolayers' morphology. © 2013 Photonics Society of Poland.