Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering from Dye Molecules in Silicon Nanowire Structures Decorated by Gold Nanoparticles

Saltanat B Ikramova, Zhandos N Utegulov, Kadyrjan K Dikhanbayev, Abduzhappar E Gaipov, Renata R Nemkayeva, Valery G Yakunin, Vladimir P Savinov, Victor Yu Timoshenko, Saltanat B Ikramova, Zhandos N Utegulov, Kadyrjan K Dikhanbayev, Abduzhappar E Gaipov, Renata R Nemkayeva, Valery G Yakunin, Vladimir P Savinov, Victor Yu Timoshenko

Abstract

Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) prepared by metal-assisted chemical etching of crystalline silicon wafers followed by deposition of plasmonic gold (Au) nanoparticles (NPs) were explored as templates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) from probe molecules of Methylene blue and Rhodamine B. The filling factor by pores (porosity) of SiNW arrays was found to control the SERS efficiency, and the maximal enhancement was observed for the samples with porosity of 55%, which corresponded to dense arrays of SiNWs. The obtained results are discussed in terms of the electromagnetic enhancement of SERS related to the localized surface plasmon resonances in Au-NPs on SiNW's surfaces accompanied with light scattering in the SiNW arrays. The observed SERS effect combined with the high stability of Au-NPs, scalability, and relatively simple preparation method are promising for the application of SiNW:Au-NP hybrid nanostructures as templates in molecular sensorics.

Keywords: gold; mesopores; molecular sensorics; nanoparticles; nanostructures; nanowires; plasmonics; silicon; surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic illustration of the fabrication process of SiNWs:Au-NPs: (a) deposition of catalytic Au-NPs on c- Si surface in HAuCl4/HF/H2O; (b) Au-NP-assisted etching with the HF/H2O2 solution; (c) removal of residual Au-NPs in HCl/HNO3 solution; (d) deposition of Au-NPs from HAuCl4/HF/H2O into SiNW arrays.
Figure 2
Figure 2
SEM images of Au-NPs deposited on the surface of c-Si wafers for different deposition times: (a) 10 s, (b) 20 s, and (c) 30 s. The corresponding size of distribution for Au-NPs (orange bars) and their fits by log-normal functions (solid line) are shown in the insets.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Top-view SEM images of SiNWs:Au-NPs samples prepared at the following time tdep: (a) 10 s, (b) 20 s, and (c) 30 s. Upper and lower insets show lateral views of whole arrays and tips of SiNWs, respectively.
Figure 4
Figure 4
TEM images of (a) individual SiNW with deposited Au-NPs and (b) tip of such nanowire.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Spectra of the total reflectance for SiNWs and SiNWs:Au-NPs with different tdep (a) 10 s; (b) 20 s; (c) 30 s, respectively.
Figure 6
Figure 6
(a) Raman and PL spectra measured for SiNWs:Au-NPs arrays with porosity P = 55% (black line), 72% (red line), and 83% (blue line) after deposition of MB molecules (10−6 M); (b) the same spectrum for the sample with porosity 55% (black line) and its deconvolution by SERS (red line) and PL (dashed blue line) spectra.
Figure 7
Figure 7
SERS spectra of SiNWs:Au-NPs samples with different porosity P after adsorption of 10−6 M of MB molecules.
Figure 8
Figure 8
SERS spectra of SiNWs:Au-NPs (P = 55%) with different concentrations of deposited MB molecules.
Figure 9
Figure 9
SERS spectra of SiNWs:Au-NPs with P = 55% after deposition of Rhodamine B with different molar concentrations.

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