Design of Polarization Independent SERS Substrate with Raman Gain Evaluated Using Purcell Factor

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a very promising detection/diagnostic technique at trace levels as the molecules exhibit a significant increase in their Raman signals when they are attached or are in proximity to plasmonic structures. In this study, a numerical design of SERS substrate as a probe has been demonstrated for detection and diagnosis of blood, water and urea samples. The proposed nanospiral design is polarization independent, and it offers the enhancement of the electric field strength ~ 10⁹. The substrate design is based on 3D finite difference time domain simulations and is robust, versatile and sensitive even at low concentrations of the analyte. It works equally well when used in the reflection mode. In this study, the cavity quantum electrodynamics (CQED) Purcell factor has also been transposed to plasmonics. The Purcell factor in corroboration with CQED has been used to achieve efficient light–matter interaction at nanoscale by providing a more realistic result. It takes into account the randomness of incident wave polarizations and arbitrary orientations of interacting molecules. This gives a deeper insight into electromagnetic Raman gain in SERS and can be used to design novel SERS substrates.