RF sputtered amorphous chalcogenide thin films for surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy.

Summary The primary objective of this study is the development of transparent thin film materials in the IR enabling strong infrared absorption of organic compounds in the vicinity of metal nanoparticles by the surface plasmon effect. For developing these optical micro-sensors, hetero-structures combining gold nanoparticles and chalcogenide planar waveguides are fabricated and adequately characterized. Single As2S3 and Ge25Sb10Se65 amorphous chalcogenide thin films are prepared by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. For the fabrication of gold nanoparticles on a chalcogenide planar waveguide, direct current sputtering is employed. Fabricated single layers or hetero-structures are characterized using various techniques to investigate the influence of deposition parameters. The nanoparticles of gold are functionalized by a self-assembled monolayer of 4-nitrothiophenol. Finally, the surface enhanced infrared absorption spectra of 4-nitrothiophenol self-assembled on fabricated Au/Ge-Sb-Se thin films hetero-structures are measured and analyzed. This optical component presents a ~24 enhancement factor for the detection of NO2 symmetric stretching vibration band of 4-nitrothiophenol at 1336 cm−1.