Abstract
We demonstrate the formation of metal alloys in Au–Ag, Au–Cu and Au–Pd systems and the experimental determination of their optical properties using optical transmission and reflection spectroscopy. The optical constants define the plasmon resonance wavelength and electromagnetic field local intensity. However, the optical constants behavior cannot be precisely modeled based on the data of pure metals due to unknown morphology and composition of the alloy. It has to be determined experimentally. We demonstrate the surface-enhanced Raman scattering using alloy metals. Depending on the metal to which molecules are adsorbed, we observe enhancement of different Raman modes. It is mainly due to the chemical enhancement effect between metal and molecules.
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Acknowledgments
YN gratefully thanks Prof. Toshihiko Baba, from Yokohama National University for fruitful discussions and granting access to fabrication and characterization facilities. This work was financially supported by Amada Foundation, The Hattori Hokokai Foundation, and JSPS Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research. SJ is grateful for support via Australian Research Council DP130101205 project.
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Nishijima, Y., Hashimoto, Y., Seniutinas, G. et al. Engineering gold alloys for plasmonics. Appl. Phys. A 117, 641–645 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-014-8716-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-014-8716-5