Randomization of gold nano-brick arrays: a tool for SERS enhancement

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) was measured on periodic and randomly arranged patterns of Au nano-bricks (rectangular parallelepipeds). Resonant SERS conditions were investigated of a near-IR dye deposited on nanoparticles. Random mixtures of Au nano-bricks with different aspect ratio R showed stronger SERS enhancement as compared to periodic patterns with constant aspect ratio (R varies from 1 to 4). SERS mapping revealed up to ∼ 4 times signal increase at the hot-spots. Experimental observation is verified by numerical modeling and is qualitatively consistent with generic scaling arguments of interaction between plasmonic nanoparticles. The effect of randomization on the polarization selectivity for the transverse and longitudinal modes of nano-bricks is shown.