Fabrication of Gold Nanosphere Oligomers for Surface-Enhanced Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy

Surface-enhanced femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (SE-FSRS) is a technique that has the potential to study the ultrafast dynamics of surface adsorbates with simultaneously high temporal and spectral resolutions. One of the greatest impediments to the further development of SE-FSRS is the lack of high-quality plasmonic substrates that permit excitation and prove wavelength agility as well as flexible selection of the adsorbate molecule. Herein, we present a simple aggregation/stabilization procedure for the formation of gold nanosphere oligomers with tunable plasmonic properties and flexible choice of adsorbate that are ideal for SE-FSRS and other coherent Raman spectroscopies.