Silicon nanowire based single-molecule SERS sensor

One-dimensional nanowire (NW) optical sensors have attracted great attention as promising nanoscale tools for applications such as probing inside living cells. However, achieving single molecule detection on NW sensors remains an interesting and unsolved problem. In the present paper, we investigate single-molecule detection (SMD) on a single SiNW based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor, fabricated by controllably depositing silver nanoparticles on a SiNW (AgNP-SiNW). Both Raman spectral blinking and bi-analyte approaches are performed in aqueous solution to investigate SMD on individual SiNW SERS sensors. The results extend the functions of the SiNW sensor to SMD and provide insight into the molecule level illustration on the sensing mechanism of the nanowire sensor. © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry.