A SERS-active nanocrystalline Pd substrate and its nanopatterning leading to biochip fabrication

Nanocrystalline metallic Pd films have been produced by thermolysis of Pd hexadecanethiolate deposited on a Si surface. The particle size was in the range of 50–60 nm based on electron and atomic force microscopy. The Pd surface produced was found to be surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active with an enhancement factor of ≈105. The electron-resist behavior of Pd thiolate is exploited in conceptualizing a prototype chip with patterned Pd regions that are SERS active, called "SERS bits", which host different biomolecules