Microstructured polymer-based substrates with broadband absorption for surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Large area (3x3cm(2)) substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering were fabricated by combining femtosecond laser microstructuring and soft lithography techniques. The fabrication procedure is as follows: (i) femtosecond laser machining is used to create a silicon master copy, (ii) replicates from polydimethylsiloxane are made, and (iii) a 50-nm-thick gold film is deposited on the surface of the replicates. The resulting substrates exhibit strongly enhanced absorption in the spectral region of 350 approximate to 1000nm and generate enhanced Raman signal with enhancement factor of the order of 10(7) for 10(-6)M rhodamine 6G. The main advantages of our substrates are low cost, large active area, and possibility for mass replication. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.