title: Large-Scale Hot Spot Engineering for Quantitative SERS at the Single-Molecule Scale.
abstract: Quantitative surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) requires precise control of Raman enhancement factor and detection uniformity across the SERS substrate. Here, we show that alkanethiolate ligand-regulated silver (Ag) nanoparticle films can be used to achieve quantitative SERS measurements down to the single-molecule level. The two-dimensional hexagonal close-packed superlattices of Ag nanoparticles formed in these films allow for SERS detection over a large area with excellent uniformity and high Raman enhancement factor. In particular, the SERS signal from the thiolate ligands on Ag nanoparticle surfaces can be utilized as a stable internal calibration standard for reproducible quantitative measurements. We demonstrate the capability of quantitative SERS by measuring the areal densities of crystal violet molecules embedded in an ultrathin spin-on-glass detection "hot zone", which is a planar and uniformly enhanced region several nanometers above the Ag nanoparticles. The Raman measurement results exhibit a linear response over a wide dynamic range of analyte concentration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, National Tsing-Hua University , Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hung-Ying
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, National Tsing-Hua University , Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Meng-Hsien
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, National Tsing-Hua University , Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chun-Yuan
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Center for Condensed Matter Sciences, National Taiwan University , Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yu-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, National Tsing-Hua University , Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan.|National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center , Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shangjr
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gwo