Repeated Temperature and Humidity Stability of SERS-active Periodical Silver Nanostructure

Abstract

In this work the effect of physical aging on the plasmonic properties of surface plasmon-polariton supported silver grating was studied. As physical treatment the periodical variation of external temperature, humidity and their combination was applied. It was previously expected, that the physical aging will results in the silver oxidation, redistribution, and potential worse of plasmonic properties. The oxidation processes were studied using the XPS technique, the changes of surface morphology were examined by AFM, and finally, the shift of plasmonic efficiency was checked using the SERS test.

Keywords

• silver grating
• SERS
• temperature
• humidity
• stability