Laser-induced surface structures on gold-coated polymers: Influence of morphology on surface-enhanced Raman scattering enhancement

  • Esther Rebollar*
  • , Margarita Hernández
  • , Mikel Sanz
  • , Susana Pérez
  • , Tiberio A. Ezquerra
  • , Marta Castillejo
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The fabrication of highly sensitive and reproducible substrates for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) remains a challenging scientific and technological issue. In this work, laser-induced periodic surface structures are generated on poly(trimethylen terephthalate) films upon laser irradiation with the linearly polarized beams of a Nd:YAG laser (4th harmonic, 266 nm), an ArF excimer laser (193 nm), and a Titanium:sapphire laser (795 nm), resulting in periods close to the laser wavelength when irradiating at normal incidence, and larger periods for different angles of incidence. Additional irradiation with a circularly polarized beam at 266 nm produces superficial circular structures. The nanostructured polymers are coated with a nanoparticle assembled gold layer by pulsed laser deposition at 213 nm. The capabilities of these substrates for SERS are evaluated using benzenethiol as a test molecule and different degrees of Raman signal enhancement are observed depending on the nanostructure type. The highest enhancement factor is obtained by for nanostructured substrates with the highest values of period, depth, and roughness.

Original languageEnglish
Article number42770
JournalJournal of Applied Polymer Science
Volume132
Issue number45
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Applications
  • Coatings
  • Nanostructured polymers
  • Spectroscopy
  • Surfaces and interfaces

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