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Si@Cu@Au AFM tips for tip-enhanced Raman spectrum

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Abstract

Tip-enhanced Raman spectrum (TERS) is a scanning probe technique for acquiring chemical information at high spatial resolution and with high chemical sensitivity. The sensitivity of TERS with atomic force microscopy (AFM) system is mainly determined by the metalized tips. Here, we report a fabrication protocol for AFM-TERS tips that incorporate a copper (Cu) primer film between a gold (Au) layer and a Si AFM tips. They were fabricated by coating the Si tip with a 2 nm Cu layer prior to adding a 20 nm Au layer. For top illumination TERS experiments, these tips exhibited superior TERS performance relative to that observed for tips coated with Au only. Samples included graphene, thiophenol and brilliant cresyl blue. The results may derive from the surface roughness of the tip apex and a Cu/Au synergism of local surface plasmon resonances.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Nanostructures and Nanotechnology; Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Pei Lu, Jing Li, Dong Wang & Li-Jun Wan

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  1. Pei Lu
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  2. Jing Li
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  3. Dong Wang
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  4. Li-Jun Wan
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Correspondence to Dong Wang or Li-Jun Wan.

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Lu, P., Li, J., Wang, D. et al. Si@Cu@Au AFM tips for tip-enhanced Raman spectrum. Sci. China Chem. 58, 1494–1500 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-015-5353-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-015-5353-6

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