Nanopillar-forest based surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates

Abstract

In this work, nanopillar-forest based surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates were fabricated using a novel approach. The key technique of the approach is taking advantage of convexes on Poly-Si surfaces as support structures in sidewall technology. The tip-diameters of the fabricated nanopillars are from 5 to 10 nm, heights are of several microns, and density of the nanopillar-based forests is around 20/μm2. In these nanopillar forests, there are plenty of nanoscale gaps. When covered with a thin layer of noble metal, the nanopillar forests exhibit a high SERS-active capability. Primary measurement results demonstrate that the nanopillar-forest based SERS substrates have an enhancement factor of an order of 4.62 × 106. It is expected that such SERS substrates may have applications in biological monitoring and chemical detection.