doi:10.1016/j.apmt.2023.101929engLafuente, MartaMuñoz, PabloBerenschot, Erwin J.W.Tiggelaar, Roald M.Susarrey-Arce, ArturoGutiérrez Rodrigo, SergioKooijman, Lucas J.García-Blanco, Sonia M.Mallada, ReyesPina, María P.Tas, Niels R.Exploring the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity of gold nanostructures embedded around nanogaps at wafer scale: Simulations and experimentsART-2023-135217A unique way of converting free space light into a local electromagnetic field in small spaces is via metallic nanostructuring. In this work fabrication, experimental characterization and simulation of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active specimens based on Au nanostructures are discussed. We used displacement Talbot lithography (DTL) to fabricate silicon nano-wedge substrates with Au nanostructures embedded around their apices. After the ion beam etching process, a nanogap is introduced between two Au nanostructures templated over nano-wedges, yielding specimens with SERS characteristics. The Au nanostructures and the nanogaps have symmetric and asymmetric configurations with respect to the wedges. With this nanofabrication method, various wafer-scale specimens were fabricated with highly controllable nanogaps with a size in the order of 6 nm for symmetric gaps and 8 nm for asymmetric gaps. SERS characteristics of these specimens were analyzed experimentally by calculating their analytical enhancement factor (AEF). According to finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations, the Raman enhancement arises at the narrow gap due to plasmonic resonances, yielding a maximum AEF of 6.9 × 106. The results highlight the SERS activity of the nanostructures and ultimately comply with reliable substrates for practical applications.2023http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/12805510.1016/j.apmt.2023.101929http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/128055oai:zaguan.unizar.es:128055info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/883390/EU/Advanced Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) based technologies for gas and liquids sensING in the area of chemical protection/SERSingThis project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No H2020 883390-SERSinginfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/PID2019-108660RB-I00Applied Materials Today 35 (2023), 101929 [12 pp.]byhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess