표면 요철구조를 적용한 나노 다공성 Ag 금속박막의 SERS 응답 특성 개선

In this study, we developed a method of improving the surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) response characteristics by depositing a nanoporous Ag metal thin film through cluster source sputtering after forming a pyramidal texture structure on the Si substrate surface. A reactive ion etching (RIE) system with a metal mesh inside the system was used to form a pyramidal texture structure on the Si surface without following a complicated photolithography process, unlike in case of the conventional RIE system. The size of the texture structure increased with the RIE process time. However, after a process time of 60 min, the size of the structure did not increase but tended to saturate. When the RF power increased from 200 to 250 W, the size of the pyramidal texture structure increased from 0.45 to 0.8 μm. The SERS response characteristics were measured by depositing approximately 1.5 μm of nanoporous Ag metal thin film through cluster sputtering on the formed texture structure by varying the RIE process conditions. The Raman signal strength of the nanoporous Ag metal thin film deposited on the Si substrate with the texture structure was higher than that deposited on the general silicon substrate by up to 19%. The Raman response characteristics were influenced by the pyramid size and the number of pyramids per unit area but appeared to be influenced more by the number of pyramids per unit area. Therefore, further studies are required in this regard.