A LAB-ON-A-CHIP SYSTEM INTEGRATED WITH SUBWAVELENGTH PERIODIC PATTERNED METAL SURFACES FOR SERS-BASED MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION BIOSENSING

We present a new lab-on-a-chip (LOC) analysis platform that is integrated with nanotextured surfaces with periodically spaced subwavelength nanogroove and nanopyramid structures with precisely defined pitch λg and separation gaps of ~2 nm spacing that form high density arrays of hot-spot scattering sites ideally suited for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and Raman spectroscopy using small sample volumes. The simple fabrication technique requires conventional lithography, wet anisotropic etching and a bonded polymer microfluidic layer. Measured Raman enhancement factors of G~106 from rhodamine 6G (R6G) on patterned Au surfaces with λg=200 nm are consistent with numerical calculations.