Near-field properties due to surface plasmon excitation is a key element for different applications of metal nanoparticles, such as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Therefore, a characterization of such properties is fundamental for the correct interpretation of experimental results, such as the strong fluctuation of intensities observed at low analyte concentrations, especially at single-molecule detection level. In this paper, we investigate, by classical electrodynamics simulations, the link between the nearfield properties of metal nanoclusters and the intensity distribution that is expected in a given single-molecule SERS experiment. The results presented here points to the possibility of correlating the intensity histograms shapes to properties such as degree of field amplification localization and aggregation state of metal nanoparticles.
The Raman signal can be enhanced by the SERS (Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering) technique that uses metallic nanoparticle (NP) colloids to intensify the electric field of incident light. In this work we explore from a theoretical point of view, through simulation, the behavior of the distribution of the intensification factor (F) on the surface of Au spherical NPs formed by different aggregates (dimers and trimeros) and mixtures thereof, which can be described by the Pareto distribution function.
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