Affiliations: School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Note: [] Corresponding author: Sam Mehigan, School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland. Tel.: +353879079849; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Raman spectroscopy is a powerful analytical tool however it suffers from poor sensitivity. Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) takes advantage of localised surface plasmons (LSPs) generated by metal nanostructures to significantly improve the sensitivity of Raman spectroscopy [J. Raman Spec. 43 (2012), 380–388], though this often results in poor reproducibility. Using silver colloids synthesised by the method outlined by Leopold and Lendl [Journal of Physical Chemistry B 107 (2003), 5723–5727], we have sought to improve both the sensitivity and reproducibility of the SERS spectra produced by this popular nanoparticle synthesis method.