Plasmene for ultrasensitive detection

Ultrathin plasmene nanosheets are a new class of flexible SERS substrates capable of conformal attachment, and the sensitive and reproducible detection of chemicals on topologically complex surfaces. Careful engineering of the building block morphologies allows the SERS performance to be fine-tuned. There are abundant 'HOT-SPOTS' in plasmene, due to strong electric field confinement in the gaps between the plasmonic nanoantennas. Full-wave electromagnetic simulation provides an estimate of the optimal excitation wavelength for best SERS sensing and also gives the theoretical enhancement factor. By changing the size and shape of the nanoparticle building blocks and exciting the plasmene sheets at the extinction resonance peak wavelength very strong SERS seignal can be obtained, leading to ultra-sensitive detection.