Surface-enhanced
Raman scattering (SERS) has been widely established
as a powerful analytical technique in molecular fingerprint recognition.
Although conventional noble metal-based SERS substrates show admirable
enhancement of the Raman signals, challenges on reproducibility, biocompatibility,
and costs limit their implementations as the preferred analysis platforms.
Recently, researches on SERS substrates have found that some innovatively
prepared metal oxides/chalcogenides could produce noble metal comparable
SERS enhancement, which profoundly expanded the material selection.
Nevertheless, to tune the SERS enhancement of these materials, careful
experimental designs and sophisticated processes were needed. Here,
an electrically tunable SERS substrate based on tungsten oxides (WO3–x
) is demonstrated. An electric field
is used to introduce the defects in the oxide on an individual substrate,
readily invoking the SERS detection capability, and further tuning
the enhancement factor is achieved through electrical programming
of the oxide leakage level. Additionally, by virtue of in situ tuning
the defect density and enhancement factor, the substrate can adapt
to different molecular concentrations, potentially improving the detection
range. These results not only help build a better understanding of
the chemical mechanism but also open an avenue for engaging non-noble
metal materials as multifunctional SERS substrates.
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