Luminescence Enhancement and SERS by Self-Assembled Plasmonic Silver Nanostructures in Nanoporous Glasses.

It was shown experimentally that the action of continuous electric field on nanoporous silicate glasses with interconnecting pores, containing silver nanoparticles, leads to the spatial redistribution of nanoparticles. The concentration of nanoparticles near the negative electrode increases and results in silver nano- and microdendrite structure growth. The main mechanisms of the described effects are the field emission of silver ions from silver nanoparticles near negative electrode, migration of silver ions in the external electric field to the negative electrode, reduction of silver ions by free electrons, and new silver nanoparticle formation. The experiments have shown that at the ends of microdendrites, local field enhancement appears, which results in luminescence enhancement and in SERS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]