Tunable surface plasmon resonance on an elastomeric substrate

In this study, we demonstrate that periods of metallic gratings on elastomeric substrates can be tuned with external strain and hence are found to control the resonance condition of surface plasmon polaritons. We have excited the plasmon resonance on the elastomeric grating coated with gold and silver. The grating period is increased up to 25% by applying an external mechanical strain. The tunability of the elastomeric substrate provides the opportunity to use such gratings as efficient surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrates. It's been demonstrated that the Raman signal can be maximized by applying an external mechanical strain to the elastomeric grating. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America