Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensors have been fabricated by rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition of high-density nanoscale discrete graphene islands on copper foils followed by electroless chemical plating of discrete, closely spaced, and irregularly shaped silver nanoparticles on the copper surface where it is not covered by graphene islands. By fine tuning of the size and distribution of graphene islands and adjusting the deposition time for silver nanoparticles, nanoscale gaps between silver particles are fabricated. SERS sensors exhibiting Raman scattering signal enhancement factors as high as 1014 in reference to a bare copper have been demonstrated. Raman scattering signal has been measured from as low as 10−16 M of R6G molecules in water. This article reports effects and optimization process of size and distribution of graphene islands on desirable morphology of chemically plated silver nanoparticles. The density of nanoscale gaps of a few nanometers in distance between neighboring silver nanoparticles is optimized, resulting in the demonstration of SERS sensors with very low detection limits for R6G molecules.

中文翻译：

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使用快速热 CVD 纳米级石墨烯岛作为模板的银纳米粒子 SERS 传感器

表面增强拉曼散射 (SERS) 传感器是通过在铜箔上快速热化学气相沉积高密度纳米级离散石墨烯岛，然后在铜表面上化学镀离散、紧密间隔和不规则形状的银纳米粒子来制造的。不被石墨烯岛覆盖。通过微调石墨烯岛的大小和分布并调整银纳米颗粒的沉积时间，可以制造银颗粒之间的纳米级间隙。已经证明相对于裸铜表现出高达 1014 的拉曼散射信号增强因子的 SERS 传感器。已从水中低至 10-16 M 的 R6G 分子测量拉曼散射信号。本文报告了石墨烯岛的大小和分布对化学镀银纳米粒子的理想形态的影响和优化过程。优化了相邻银纳米粒子之间距离为几纳米的纳米级间隙密度，从而证明了 SERS 传感器对 R6G 分子的检测限非常低。