Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering Using Star-Shaped Gold Colloidal Nanoparticles†

Advances in nanophotonics have shown the potential of colloidal metal particles with sharp tips, such as nanostars, to focalize the plasmonic electromagnetic fields. We describe in this paper the performance of gold nanostars in common surface-enhanced scattering (SES) experiments, including SERS, SERRS, and SEF. The study was carried out for several analytes and demonstrated the potential of nanostars for ultradetection of nonfunctionalized analytes, by simply depositing nanostars on top of analyte thin films previously assembled onto a smooth gold surface.