Understanding of the Physical Phenomena Caused by Interactions between Laser and Agglomerated Particles

Abstract

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a phenomenon in which Raman scattered light of molecules adsorbed on noble metal nanoparticles with a diameter of about 50 to 100 nm is greatly amplified by surface plasmon resonance on the metal surface. Since it is possible to detect trace components, it is expected to be applied to ultra-sensitive analysis in a wide range of fields such as the medical field and the biological field. In SERS, it is known that when particles form a dimer or a further aggregate, an extremely strong electromagnetic field called a hot spot is formed between these particles. Since the target molecule is selectively adsorbed between such particles, the SERS effect is expected to be further amplified in the aggregated particles due to the synergistic effect of these two. However, the relationship between the aggregation state of such particles and the surface enhancement effect has not been completely elucidated. In this study, we fabricated a nanoparticle multilayer film by atomizer and verified the SERS effect due to the aggregate structure of the particles. The SERS effect was obtained with the nanoparticle accumulated film that prepared by 70-nm Ag nanoparticles with colloid concentration of 4.3 × 10¹² particles mL^–1.

Graphical Abstract

Raman spectra of single particles and agglomerates.