title: Exploring copper nanostructures as highly uniform and reproducible substrates for plasmon-enhanced fluorescence.
abstract: The unique properties of metallic nanostructures of coinage metals that can sustain localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPR) put them at the centre of plasmon-enhanced phenomena. The theory of plasmonic phenomena based on LSPR is well-established. However, the fabrication of plasmonic substrates, reproducibly, is still challenging for applications in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and surface-enhanced fluorescence (SEF). In this work we describe well-ordered copper nanostructures (CuNSs), produced by electrodeposition and nanosphere lithography, as active substrates for SEF. After a detailed spectroscopic and microscopic characterization, CuNSs are successfully applied as SEF-active substrates using a well-known perylene derivative as a target molecule. The signal reproducibility from CuNS substrates was established by comparing the results against those obtained from a simply roughened Cu substrate. Under optimal conditions, signal variability is around 4%.
authors.affiliation: C. J. L Constantino. Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, UNESP Univ Estadual Paulista, Presidente Prudente, SP CEP 19060-900, Brazil. diogovolpati@gmail.com.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Volpati
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Spada
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Plá Cid
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Sartorelli
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Aroca
authors.forename: C J L
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Constantino