Fabrication of Spiky Gold Nanoparticles in Ordered Arrays with Tunable Nanofeatures

Anisotropic gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with branched spikes, known as spiky AuNPs, are attractive plasmonic materials due to their localized surface plasmon (LSP) resonances. Achieving precise control over the morphology and optical response of spiky AuNPs, as well as arranging AuNPs in ordered arrays on substrates are important for designing metamaterials, biosensors and optoelectronics. This talk will describe a substrate-bound seed-mediated synthesis approach to fabricate spiky AuNPs in ordered arrays with tunable nanofeatures. We will discuss advances in nanofabrication techniques that enable the patterning of AuNP seeds with designed shape and size. We will describe how different growth conditions can lead to the formation of different nanofeatures on the seeds, resulting in different LSP resonances. Finally, we will discuss the prospects of using spiky AuNP arrays for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS).