Hybrid micro/nano-structure formation by angular laser texturing of Si surface for surface enhanced Raman scattering

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has drawn much research interest in the past decades as an efficient technique to detect low-concentration molecules. Among many technologies, which can be used to fabricate SERS substrates, laser ablation is a simple and high-speed method to produce large-area SERS substrates. This work investigates the angular texturing effect by dynamic laser ablation and its influence on SERS signals. By tuning the angle between the Si surface and laser irradiation, the distributions and sizes of laser induced hybrid micro/nano-structures are studied. By decorating with a silver film, plenty of hot spots can be created among these structures for SERS. It is found that when the incident laser angle is 15 degrees at the laser fluence of 16.0 J/cm(2), the SERS performance is well optimized. This work realizes antisymmetric distribution of nanoparticles deposited on Si surface, which provides a flexible tuning of the hybrid micro/nano-structures' fabrication with high controllability for practical applications. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America