Observing Plasmon Damping Due to Adhesion Layers in Gold Nanostructures Using Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy

Gold plasmonic nanostructures with several different adhesion layers have been studied with monochromated electron energy loss spectroscopy in the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM-EELS) and with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Compared to samples with no adhesion layer, those with 2 nm of Cr or Ti show broadened, lower intensity plasmon peaks as measured with EELS. This broadening is observed in both optically active (“bright”) and inactive (“dark”) plasmon modes. When the former are probed with SERS, the signal enhancement factor is lower for samples with Cr or Ti, another indication of reduced plasmon resonance. This work illustrates the capability of STEM-EELS to provide direct near-field measurement of changes in plasmon excitation probability with nanoscale spatial resolution. Additionally, it demonstrates that applications requiring high SERS enhancement, such as biomarker detection and cancer diagnostics, can be improved by avoiding the use of a metallic adhesion layer.