Selectively deposited silver coatings on gold-capped silicon nanowires for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Gold caps on silicon nanowires are selectively coated with silver by autometallography (electroless deposition). Changing the conditions of silver deposition, a variety of different coating morphologies can be produced [figure: see text]. The different silver coating morphologies are investigated in terms of their capabilities for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) experiments.Gold caps on silicon nanowires are hemispherical and only a few tens of nanometers in diameter when grown from metal catalysts by the vapor-liquid-solid growth mechanism using chemical vapor deposition. These gold caps are capable of enhancing Raman signals based on the surface-enhanced Raman scattering effect. The Raman signal can be enhanced even further (by at least one order of magnitude) when silver is selectively deposited onto these gold caps by autometallography (electroless deposition). By changing the silver deposition conditions, different coating morphologies can be realized on the gold caps that range from very thin, smooth layers to uneven and extremely rough coatings. The SERS signal enhancement and the spatial homogeneity of the achievable enhancement are compared for the different silver coatings using a model dye molecule.