Hierarchical Magnetic Films for High-Performance Plasmonic Sensors

Hierarchically structured films comprise a growing section of the field of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Here, we report a novel, powerfully enhancing hierarchical plasmonic substrate featuring patterned multilayers of magnetic iron oxide nanospheres using an external magnetic field to create sets of radial ridges. This new substrate allows for effective analyte adsorption and significant Raman signal enhancement, thanks to the contribution of both the magnetic and plasmonic components to the electromagnetic hotspots. We demonstrate significant and reliable Raman enhancement for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), dilute but persistent environmental pollutants, in a complex and real-world matrix of produced water (PW). The substrate activity for PAHs is validated by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis. An impressive signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of several dB enables detection of the analyte below 1 ppm. This multilayer magnetic film sensor substrate shows remarkable stability and robustness suitable for real-world applications while boasting simple methods and strong potential to scale up fabrication.