Bi-SERS sensing and enhancement by Au-Ag bimetallic non-alloyed nanoparticles on amorphous and crystalline silicon substrate.

We have demonstrated Au-Ag bimetallic non-alloy nanoparticles (BNNPs) on thin a-Si film and c-Si substrate for high SERS enhancement, low cost, high sensitivity and reproducible SERS substrate with bi-SERS sensing properties where two different SERS peak for Au NPs and Ag NPs are observed on single SERS substrate. The isolated Au-Ag bimetallic NPs, with uniform size and spacing distribution, are suitable for uniform high density hotspot SERS enhancement. The SERS enhancement factor of Au-Ag BNNPs is 2.9 times higher compared to Ag NPs on similar substrates due to the increase of the localized surface plasmon resonance effect. However there is a decrement of SERS peak intensity at specific wavenumbers when the surrounding refractive index increases due to out-phase hybridization of Au NPs. The distinct changes of the two different SERS peaks on single Au-Ag BNNPs SERS substrate due to Au and Ag NPs independently show possible application for bi-molecular sensing.