Simple and rapid detection of trace amounts of melamine in milk products has been achieved with a portable sensor system based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The sensor system comprised high-performance gold nanofinger SERS sensor chips and a custom-built prototype portable Raman spectrometer. Compared to the FDA procedure and previously reported studies that were limited to laboratory settings, our sampling and analytical methods are simple (with one sampling step), less time-consuming, and cost-effective. We found the limit of detection (LOD) of the melamine is 120 parts per trillion (ppt) in water and 100 parts per billion (ppb) in infant formula, which are well below the FDA's tolerance level of 1 ppm in infant formula.

Simple, sensitive, and rapid detection of trace levels of extensively used and highly toxic pesticides are in urgent demand for public health. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based sensor was designed to achieve ultrasensitive and simple pesticide sensing. We developed a portable sensor system composed of high performance and reliable gold nanofinger sensor strips and a custom-built portable Raman spectrometer. Compared to the general procedure and previously reported studies that are limited to laboratory settings, our analytical method is simple, sensitive, rapid, and cost-effective. Based on the SERS results, the chemical interaction of two pesticides, chlorpyrifos (CPF) and thiabendazole (TBZ), with gold nanofingers was studied to determine a fingerprint for each pesticide. The portable SERS-sensor system was successfully demonstrated to detect CPF and TBZ pesticides within 15 min with a detection limit of 35 ppt in drinking water and 7 ppb on apple skin, respectively.

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a compelling technique for low cost nanoscale device fabrication. The precise and repeatable replication of nanoscale patterns from a single high resolution patterning step makes the NIL technique much more versatile than other expensive techniques such as e-beam or even helium ion beam lithography. Furthermore, the use of mechanical deformation during the NIL process enables grayscale lithography with only a single patterning step, not achievable with any other conventional lithography techniques. These strengths enable the fabrication of unique nanoscale devices by NIL for a variety of applications including optics, plasmonics and even biotechnology. Recent advances in throughput and yield in NIL processes demonstrate the potential of being adopted for mainstream semiconductor device fabrication as well.

Deterministic patterning or assembly of nanoparticles often requires complex processes that are not easily incorporated into system architectures of arbitrary design. We have developed a technique to fabricate deterministic nanoparticle assemblies using simple and inexpensive nanoimprinting equipment and procedures. First, a metal film is evaporated onto flexible polymer pillars made by nanoimprinting. The resulting metal caps on top of the pillars can be pulled into assemblies of arbitrary design by collapsing the pillars in a well-controlled manner. The nanoparticle assemblies are then transferred from the pillars onto a new substrate via nanoimprinting with the aid of either cold welding or chemical bonding. Using this technique, a variety of patterned nanoparticle assemblies of Au and Ag with a critical dimension less than 2 nm were fabricated and transferred to silicon-, glass-, and metal-coated substrates. Separating the nanostructure assembly from the final architecture removes significant design constraints from devices incorporating nanoparticle assemblies. The application of this process as a technique for generating surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrates is presented.

Abstract