By Silmeco ApS
Silmeco SERS Substrates are currently the best performing SERS substrates on the market (verified by independent tests and research). SERStrate is produced in ISO 9001:2008 certified production facilities SERStrate is used in high volume applications Superior Raman enhancement Low background signal Unmatched reproducibility High volume manufacturing
A Silmeco SERS substrate, called a SERStrate, is essentially a silicon wafer coated with a metal like gold or silver (or a custom metal of choice). The silicon wafer is made up of a special structure – ag/au coated nano-pillars – which facilitates molecular sensing (Raman scattering). The SERS substrates can be used to detect extremely small amounts of various chemicals, hormones, explosives, subcellular structures and more. Superior Raman enhancement Low background signal Unmatched reproducibility High volume manufacturing Which substrate coating offers best signal enhancement? As a rule of thumb Ag (silver) offers the best signal enhancement. The enhancement factor is typically 10x – 100x larger compared to Au (gold). Should I wash/treat/sonicate the substrates prior to analyte deposition? Generally no. Doing so will cause the substrate nanopillars to lean and produce unwanted results. On which side of the substrate should I measure? Only one side of the SERS substrate is suitable for the measuring. The side is coated with either gold or silver (or a custom coating on special requests). You can identify the correct active side by looking at the colors of either side of the substrate. SERS substrates with gold coating have a “brownish/bronze/reddish” color tone. Silver SERS substrates have a light/beige tone. How do I handle the substrates properly? Do not touch the active side of the substrate with your fingers, scratch it or use the substrates in a dusty environment – doing so will produce unreliable results. How can I tell the SERS substrates apart? Which ones are gold and which ones are silver? Gold SERS substrates have a “brownish/bronze/reddish” color tone. Silver substrates have a light/beige color tone. If the silver substrates exhibits a very dark color they have most likely become oxidized. Can I measure molecules in gas phase? Yes. SERS substrates and immersion? The Ag and Au SERS substrates can be immersed totally in any liquid. Are the SERS substrates covered in any layer besides gold or silver coating? No – the SERS substrates do not contain any additional layers or film. The SERS substrates can be used without any washing, sonication etc. Treating the SERS substrates prior to analyte deposition can produce unreliable results so this is not recommended. Is it possible to do spin coating to get a thin film and then evaporate a solvent on a hot plate? One can try spin coating material on the SERS substrate and then evaporating the solvent. This is not an usual way of doing it, and will require some experimentation to get satisfactory results. The reasons are that (i) the spin coating would create unusual “hot spots” (depending on spin coating parameters), and (ii) depending on how high is the temperature (200C is dangerous to nanostructures), solvent evaporation would affect silver/gold nanostructures. Therefore, this kind of material/analyte deposition requires experimentation but it might work. What is the shelf life of the substrates? Opened (Ag) 3-4 weeks before oxidation. Un-opened (Ag): 1+ year. Our substrates (both Ag and Au) are cleanroom-packaged with nitrogen gas. Ag substrates can be stored for up to 6-9 months in this atmosphere. Over time, the Ag substrates would slowly oxidize and only a minor performance drop at internal laboratory testing has been detected. The substrates are still perfectly usable even after 1 year. Unless you want to study something that binds with Ag and you do not want the surfaces to become silver oxide, oxidation is not found to pose a major problem. Once a package is opened, Ag substrates would oxidize within 3-4 weeks, but still provide good results according to internally conducted tests. What is the best way to store the substrates? The SERS substrates should be stored at room temperature or below. The bag in which the SERS substrates are shipped is filled with an inert gas. Once you open the package we recommend that you store the SERStrates in a vacuum/inert (argon / nitrogen) atmosphere, preferably in an exicator – however this is not a requirement for the SERS substrates to produce good results. Which solvents can I use? Typically we see customers use water, ethanol and isopropanol solvents. What is the best way to use Silmeco SERS Substrates? Please see the following file: User Manual for Silmeco SERS Substrates. Do Silmeco offer custom SERS substrates? Yes – please see the following section for more info. Can I detect xyz molecule? Maybe. It depends on the various properties of the molecule you want to measure. You are welcome to contact us for more information and feedback.
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Enabling ultrasensitive molecular detection down to pM concentrations. Gold SERStrate is an extremely sensitive SERS substrate that enables trace detection of wide range of molecules spanning from life science to military applications. Gold SERStrate has higher Raman enhancement than any other gold SERS substrate on the market today Designed for 785 nm laser excitation Uniform Raman enhancement across the entire substrate Reproducible enhancement between different substrates and batches enabling quantitative analysis Low background signal Most cost effective gold substrate commercially available Can be used in aggressive solvents and at high temperatures If you have any questions about high volume pricing, please contact us, info@silmeco.com or tel. +45 72 300 212. Additional information Dimensions 3 mm x 3 mm SERS active area 9mm² Sensitivity ppm to ppb SERStrate surface metals Gold (Au) Substrate material Gold coated freestanding silicon nanopillars Active area 3 mm x 3 mm Recommended sampling methods Vapor deposition, drop deposition, substrate incubation (immersion) Recommended laser excitation wavelengths 785 nm Recommended laser power density<10 W/cm² Downloads Product sheet User manual
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Enabling ultrasensitive molecular detection down to pM concentrations. Silver SERStrate is an extremely sensitive SERS substrate that enables trace detection of wide range of molecules spanning from life science to military applications. - Silver SERStrate has higher Raman enhancement than any other SERS substrate on the market today - Designed for laser excitation in the range of 532 nm to 785 nm - Uniform Raman enhancement across the entire substrate - Reproducible enhancement between different substrates and batches enabling quantitative analysis - Low background signal - Most cost effective substrate commercially available If you have any questions about high volume pricing, please contact us, info@silmeco.com or tel. +45 72 300 212. Additional information Dimensions 3mm x 3mm SERS active area 9mm² Sensitivity ppm to ppb SERStrate surface metals Silver (Ag) Substrate material Silver coated freestanding silicon nanopillars Active area 3mm x 3mm Recommended sampling methods Vapor deposition, drop deposition, substrate incubation (immersion) Recommended laser excitation wavelengths 532 nm to 785 nm Recommended laser power density<10 W/cm² Downloads - Product sheet - User manual
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Do you want the incredible performance of standard SERStrate but you need a different substrate size or optical properties tailored to your sensing application? Contact us today. Just fill out the form below or contact us at info@silmeco.com and we will get back to you. In the meantime please have a look at our knowledge base and frequently asked questions section for more information related to SERStrate, SERS and Raman spectroscopy in general.
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