Double resonance surface enhanced Raman scattering substrates: an intuitive coupled oscillator model

The strong coupling between localized surface plasmons and surface plasmon polaritons in a double resonance surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate is described by a classical coupled oscillator model. The effects of the particle density, the particle size and the SiO2 spacer thickness on the coupling strength are experimentally investigated. We demonstrate that by tuning the geometrical parameters of the double resonance substrate, we can readily control the resonance frequencies and tailor the SERS enhancement spectrum. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America