Dataset Information

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy on Hybrid Graphene/Gold Substrates near the Percolation Threshold.

ABSTRACT: Graphene is a promising platform for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)-active substrates, primarily due to the possibility of quenching photoluminescence and fluorescence. Here we study ultrathin gold films near the percolation threshold fabricated by electron-beam deposition on monolayer CVD graphene. The advantages of such hybrid graphene/gold substrates for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy are discussed in comparison with conventional substrates without the graphene layer. The percolation threshold is determined by independent measurements of the sheet resistance and effective dielectric constant by spectroscopic ellipsometry. The surface morphology of the ultrathin gold films is analyzed by the use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), and the thicknesses of the films in addition to the quartz-crystal mass-thickness sensor are also measured by AFM. We experimentally demonstrate that the maximum SERS signal is observed near and slightly below the percolation threshold. In this case, the region of maximum enhancement of the SERS signal can be determined using the figure of merit (FOM), which is the ratio of the real and imaginary parts of the effective dielectric permittivity of the films. SERS measurements on hybrid graphene/gold substrates with the dye Crystal Violet show an enhancement factor of ~105 and also demonstrate the ability of graphene to quench photoluminescence by an average of ~60%.

SUBMITTER: Tatarkin DE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7022774 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy on Hybrid Graphene/Gold Substrates near the Percolation Threshold.

Tatarkin Dmitry E DE Yakubovsky Dmitry I DI Ermolaev Georgy A GA Stebunov Yury V YV Voronov Artem A AA Arsenin Aleksey V AV Volkov Valentyn S VS Novikov Sergey M SM

Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) 20200117 1

Graphene is a promising platform for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)-active substrates, primarily due to the possibility of quenching photoluminescence and fluorescence. Here we study ultrathin gold films near the percolation threshold fabricated by electron-beam deposition on monolayer CVD graphene. The advantages of such hybrid graphene/gold substrates for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy are discussed in comparison with conventional substrates without the graphene layer. The per ...[more]

PMID: 31963496

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Project description:As biospectroscopy techniques continue to be developed for screening or diagnosis within a point-of-care setting, an important development for this field will be high-throughput optimization. For many of these techniques, it is therefore necessary to adapt and develop parameters to generate a robust yet simple approach delivering high-quality spectra from biological samples. Specifically, this is important for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) wherein there are multiple variables that can be optimised to achieve an enhancement of the Raman signal from a sample. One hypothesis is that "large" diameter (>100 nm) gold nanoparticles provide a greater enhancement at near-infrared (NIR) and infrared (IR) wavelengths than those <100 nm in diameter. Herein, we examine this notion using examples in which SERS spectra were acquired from MCF-7 breast cancer cells incubated with 150 nm gold nanoparticles. It was found that 150 nm gold nanoparticles are an excellent material for NIR/IR SERS. Larger gold nanoparticles may better satisfy the theoretical restraints for SERS enhancement at NIR/IR wavelengths compared to smaller nanoparticles. Also, larger nanoparticles or their aggregates are more readily observed via optical microscopy (and especially electron microscopy) compared to smaller ones. This allows rapid and straightforward identification of target areas containing a high concentration of nanoparticles and facilitating SERS spectral acquisition. To some extent, these observations appear to extend to biofluids such as blood plasma or (especially) serum; SERS spectra of such biological samples often exhibit a low signal-to-noise ratio in the absence of nanoparticles. With protein-rich biofluids such as serum, a dramatic SERS effect can be observed; although this might facilitate improved spectral biomarker identification in the future, it may not always improve classification between control vs. cancer. Thus, use of "large" gold nanoparticles are a good starting point in order to derive informative NIR/IR SERS analysis of biological samples.

Dataset Information

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy on Hybrid Graphene/Gold Substrates near the Percolation Threshold.

Publications

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy on Hybrid Graphene/Gold Substrates near the Percolation Threshold.

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