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All‐dielectric core/shell resonators: From plasmon‐free SERS to multimodal analysis
Author(s) -
Bontempi Nicolò,
Vassalini Irene,
Alessandri Ivano
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of raman spectroscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.748
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1097-4555
pISSN - 0377-0486
DOI - 10.1002/jrs.5330
Subject(s) - raman scattering , raman spectroscopy , plasmon , dielectric , materials science , shell (structure) , resonator , optoelectronics , optics , nanotechnology , physics , composite material
All‐dielectric materials are emerging as a new class of substrates for enhanced Raman scattering. As ohmic losses are reduced in the absence of plasmonic metals, Raman data obtained with dielectrics are very reproducible and reliable. This mini‐review summarizes our recent work in the field of core/shell dielectric resonators designed for Raman purposes, with a special focus on SiO 2 /TiO 2 (T‐rex) core/shell beads. These systems are able to exploit the evanescent field generated by total internal reflection and multiple scattering of light at the sphere‐to‐sphere interface to multiply the number of Raman photons, improving the sensitivity of Raman detection and extending the application of surface enhanced Raman scattering for investigating surface chemical reactions. Examples of the application of T‐Rex beads in detecting and monitoring environmental pollutants, greenhouse gases, biochemical species, and biochemical reactions are presented. The use of core/shell resonators for multimodal analysis based on the combination of surface enhanced Raman scattering with either mass spectrometry or refractive index optical sensing is also discussed, suggesting different possible future developments.