Au-coated ZnO nanostructures for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy applications

Thin ZnO nanostructured films were produced by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) studies. The experimental conditions used for preparation of the samples were chosen to obtain different types of ZnO nanostructures. The Raman spectra of rhodamine 6G (R6G) were measured at an excitation wavelength of 785 nm after coating the ZnO nanostructures with a thin Au layer. The influence of the surface morphology on the Raman signal obtained from the samples was investigated. High SERS signal enhancement was observed from all Au-coated ZnO nanostructures.