Amplification of the Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Signal from a Monolayer of Organic Molecules in Sandwich Structures Containing Plasmonic Silver Nanoplates

A novel technique was developed for the preparation of bilayer sandwich-type structures containing monolayers or laterally-oriented silver nanoplates electrostatically deposited onto thin polymer films. The surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signal of 4-mercaptobenzoic acid in the ligand layer of the silver nanoplates was found to depend on the surface concentration of the deposited silver nanoplates in the monolayer. A two-fold enhancement was found for the surface-enhanced Raman scattering signal of the analyte located in the gaps between the silver nanoplate monolayers compared to the signal from a single silver nanoplate monolayer with identical surface concentration of the analyte molecules.