High-throughput fabrication of TERS probes using DC bias

Abstract

Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) has gained great attentions for sensitive characterization and super-resolution chemical imaging of various materials. The performance of TERS is mainly affected by the probe geometry, such as the diameter of the tip apex, surface roughness, etc. In this regard, the fabrication of a sharp apex from metal wire is the one of the most important factor for TERS experiments. Conventionally, the electrochemical etching is commonly used technique for fabricating those metallic probes. To avoid the surface defects, the pulsed bias was commonly employed in the electrochemical etching process. However, it would make the fabrication system to be complex and sophisticated. Here, we report an simple automated electrochemical etching systems using DC bias for the efficient fabrication of TERS probes. With our optimized condition for DC electrochemical etching, gold probes with a clean surface and a radius of curvature below 200 nm can be obtained with yield of 85%. The fabricated metallic probe is used to detect the brilliant cresyl blue (BCB) molecules on the gold film, and it is confirmed that the enhancement factor is about 3,400.