Browsing by Author "Schatz, George C."

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Molecular engineering of organic semiconductors enables noble metal-comparable SERS enhancement and sensitivity
(NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP, MACMILLAN BUILDING, 4 CRINAN ST, LONDON N1 9XW, ENGLAND, 2019) Demirel, Gokhan; Gieseking, Rebecca L. M.; Ozdemir, Resul; Kahmann, Simon; Loi, Maria A.; Schatz, George C.; Facchetti, Antonio; Usta, Hakan; AGÜ, Mühendislik Fakültesi, Malzeme Bilimi ve Nanoteknoloji Mühendisliği Bölümü;
Nanostructured molecular semiconductor films are promising Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) platforms for both fundamental and technological research. Here, we report that a nanostructured film of the small molecule DFP-4T, consisting of a fully pi-conjugated diperfluorophenyl-substituted quaterthiophene structure, demonstrates a very large Raman enhancement factor (>10(5)) and a low limit of detection (10(-9) M) for the methylene blue probe molecule. This data is comparable to those reported for the best inorganic semiconductor- and even intrinsic plasmonic metal-based SERS platforms. Photoluminescence spectroscopy and computational analysis suggest that both charge-transfer energy and effective molecular interactions, leading to a small but non-zero oscillator strength in the charge-transfer state between the organic semiconductor film and the analyte molecule, are required to achieve large SERS enhancement factors and high molecular sensitivities in these systems. Our results provide not only a considerable experimental advancement in organic SERS figure-of-merits but also a guidance for the molecular design of more sensitive SERS systems.
Nanostructured organic semiconductor films for molecular detection with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy
(NATURE RESEARCHHEIDELBERGER PLATZ 3, BERLIN 14197, GERMANY, 2017) Yilmaz, Mehmet; Babur, Esra; Ozdemir, Mehmet; Gieseking, Rebecca L.; Dede, Yavuz; Tamer, Ugur; Schatz, George C.; Facchetti, Antonio; Usta, Hakan; Demirel, Gokhan; 0000-0002-0618-1979; 0000-0001-5790-2943; AGÜ, Mühendislik Fakültesi, Malzeme Bilimi ve Nanoteknoloji Mühendisliği Bölümü; Ozdemir, Mehmet; Usta, Hakan
pi-Conjugated organic semiconductors have been explored in several optoelectronic devices, yet their use in molecular detection as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)-active platforms is unknown. Herein, we demonstrate that SERS-active, superhydrophobic and ivy-like nanostructured films of a molecular semiconductor, alpha,omega-diperfluorohexylquaterthiophene (DFH-4T), can be easily fabricated by vapour deposition. DFH-4T films without any additional plasmonic layer exhibit unprecedented Raman signal enhancements up to 3.4 x 10(3) for the probe molecule methylene blue. The combination of quantum mechanical computations, comparative experiments with a fluorocarbon-free alpha,omega-dihexylquaterthiophene (DH-4T), and thin-film microstructural analysis demonstrates the fundamental roles of the pi-conjugated core fluorocarbon substitution and the unique DFH-4T film morphology governing the SERS response. Furthermore, Raman signal enhancements up to similar to 10(10) and sub-zeptomole (< 10(-21) mole) analyte detection were accomplished by coating the DFH-4T films with a thin gold layer. Our results offer important guidance for the molecular design of SERS-active organic semiconductors and easily fabricable SERS platforms for ultrasensitive trace analysis.