am506622x_si_001.pdf (6.63 MB)
Laser Treatment of Ag@ZnO Nanorods as Long-Life-Span SERS Surfaces
journal contribution
posted on 2015-02-04, 00:00 authored by Manuel Macias-Montero, Ramón
J. Peláez, Victor J. Rico, Zineb Saghi, Paul Midgley, Carmen N. Afonso, Agustín R. González-Elipe, Ana BorrasUV
nanosecond laser pulses have been used to produce a unique surface
nanostructuration of Ag@ZnO supported nanorods (NRs). The NRs were
fabricated by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at
low temperature applying a silver layer as promoter. The irradiation
of these structures with single nanosecond pulses of an ArF laser
produces the melting and reshaping of the end of the NRs that aggregate
in the form of bundles terminated by melted ZnO spherical particles.
Well-defined silver nanoparticles (NPs), formed by phase separation
at the surface of these melted ZnO particles, give rise to a broad
plasmonic response consistent with their anisotropic shape. Surface
enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) in the as-prepared Ag@ZnO NRs arrays
was proved by using a Rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) chromophore as standard
analyte. The surface modifications induced by laser treatment improve
the stability of this system as SERS substrate while preserving its
activity.