title: Structure fits the purpose: photonic crystal fibers for evanescent-field surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.
abstract: We report numerical simulation and hyperspectral Raman imaging of three index-guiding solid-core photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) of different air-cladding microstructures to assess their respective potential for evanescent-field Raman spectroscopy, with an emphasis on achieving surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) over the entire fiber length. Suspended-core PCF consisting of a silica core surrounded by three large air channels conjoined by a thin silica web is the most robust of the three SERS-active PCFs, with a demonstrated detection sensitivity of 1x10(-10) M R6G in an aqueous solution of only approximately 7.3 microL sampling volume.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Stevens Institute of Technology,Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, USA.
authors.forename: Maung Kyaw
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Khaing Oo
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Jiri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kanka
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sukhishvili
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Du
mesh_terms: D000388:Air; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D017785:Photons; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000379:methods*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D012822:Silicon Dioxide