Micro‐/Nanostructured Highly Crystalline Organic Semiconductor Films for Surface‐Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Applications |
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| Authors: | Mehmet Yilmaz Mehmet Ozdemir Hakan Erdogan Ugur Tamer Unal Sen Antonio Facchetti Hakan Usta Gokhan Demirel |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Bio‐inspired Materials Research Laboratory (BIMREL), Department of Chemistry, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey;2. Department of Materials Science and Nanotechnology Engineering, Abdullah Gül University, Kayseri, Turkey;3. Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey;4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Abdullah Gül University, Kayseri, Turkey;5. Polyera Corporation, Skokie, IL, USA;6. Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials Research (CEAMR), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
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| Abstract: | The utilization of inorganic semiconductors for surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has attracted enormous interest. However, despite the technological relevance of organic semiconductors for enabling inexpensive, large‐area, and flexible devices via solution processing techniques, these π‐conjugated systems have never been investigated for SERS applications. Here for the first time, a simple and versatile approach is demonstrated for the fabrication of novel SERS platforms based on micro‐/nanostructured 2,7‐dioctyl[1]benzothieno[3,2‐b][1]benzothiophene (C8‐BTBT) thin films via an oblique‐angle vapor deposition. The morphology of C8‐BTBT thin films is manipulated by varying the deposition angle, thus achieving highly favorable 3D vertically aligned ribbon‐like micro‐/nanostructures for a 90° deposition angle. By combining C8‐BTBT semiconductor films with a nanoscopic thin Au layer, remarkable SERS responses are achieved in terms of enhancement (≈108), stability (>90 d), and reproducibility (RSD < 0.14), indicating the great promise of Au/C8‐BTBT films as SERS platforms. Our results demonstrate the first example of an organic semiconductor‐based SERS platform with excellent detection characteristics, indicating that π‐conjugated organic semiconductors have a great potential for SERS applications. |
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| Keywords: | charge transfer nanostructured films organic semiconductors physical vapor deposition surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) |
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