Nanopatterned metal surfaces are widely used for chemical sensing. One representative technique is surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS).When analyte is placed on a solid substrate covered with densely packed metal nanoparticles, the intensity of Raman-scattered light increases by multiple orders of magnitude. However, such enhancement is highly spatially non-uniform and is concentrated in the nanogaps between adjacent particles. The ability of analyte molecules to diffuse into the regions of highest enhancement, therefore, limits the effectiveness of textured surfaces as chemical sensors. In liquid phase sensing, this is often determined by the ability of the solvent to completely wet the nanostructures.

William Goldshlag, M-CNTC Trainee

William is a PhD student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His advisers are Brian Cunningham (ECE) and Yi Lu (Chemistry).

Cellular and Molecular Mechanics and BioNanotechnology (CMMB IGERT)

NIH/NCI Midwest Cancer Nanotechnology Training Center (M-CNTC)

Center for Cellular Mechanics (CCM)

Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST)