Simple and affordable approach to SERS technology offers new benefits

An international team of engineering experts have developed a new nanotechnology-based approach to greatly improve the surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) imaging technique.

Though the SERS method is capable of identifying chemical and biological molecules in a wide range of fields, it is not widely used due to its expense and complexity – issues that the new research aimed to solve.

University at Buffalo researchers, working with collaborators at China's Fudan University, have created a universal substrate that can trap a wide range of wavelengths and compress them into small gaps to create a strongly enhanced light field.

Consisting of a thin film of silver or aluminum that acts as a mirror, plus a dielectric layer of silica or alumina, the technology removes the need for multiple different substrates, which increases the cost and time taken to perform the test.

Kai Liu, a University of Buffalo PhD candidate in electrical engineering, said: "The applications of such a device are far-reaching. The ability to detect even smaller amounts of chemical and biological molecules could be helpful with biosensors that are used to detect cancer, malaria, HIV and other illnesses."

The technology could also be used to identify chemicals used in certain types of paint or to detect chemical weapons or dangerous toxins.