Improved uniformity of deposited metallic layer on hybrid micro/nano-structured Si substrates fabricated by two-step laser ablation for SERS application

Abstract

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been widely used as an effective technique for low-concentration molecules detections in the past decades. This work proposes a rapid and accessible process to fabricate SERS-active substrates with high uniformity and controllability based on two-step laser ablation. Laser beams directly ablate the surface of Si, concurrently creating microstructures and ejecting molten materials caused by the thermal effect that nucleate in ambient air. The nuclei grow into nanoparticles and deposit over the surface. These nanoparticles, together with microstructures, improve the light collection efficiency of the SERS-active substrates. Especially after Au thin film deposition, these nanoparticles can provide nanogaps as hotspots for SERS. By orthogonal experiment design, laser processing parameters for better performances are determined. Compared with substrates fabricated by single 1064 nm master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) laser ablation, substrates ablated by the primary 1064 nm MOPA laser and secondary UV pulsed laser show more uniform nanoparticles’ deposition over the surface. The optimized large-area substrate has a SERS detection limit of 10⁻⁸ mol/L for 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP), indicating the potential real-world applications for trace detection.

Keywords

laser ablation / surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) / light trapping effect / orthogonal experiment design

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