Hybrid Top‐Down and Bottom‐Up Fabrication Approach for Wafer‐Scale Plasmonic Nanoplatforms

A generalized hybrid nanofabrication approach is reported that combines top-down (deep-UV lithography) and bottom-up (controlled lateral epitaxial growth) fabrication techniques for developing nanostructured platforms. This technology allows the development of reproducible substrates with controlled sub-10-nm gaps between plasmonic nanostructures over an entire 6 inch wafer. The plasmonic nanoplatforms are used for surface-enhanced Raman scattering-based detection of chemical and biological molecules.