SERS and FDTD simulation of gold nanoparticles grafted on germanium wafer via galvanic displacement

Uniform and dense Au nanoparticles grown on Ge (Au/Ge) were fabricated by a facile galvanic displacement method and employed as surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates. The substrates exhibited excellent reproducibility in the detection of rhodamine 6G aqueous solution with a relative standard deviation of <20%. The substrate showed a high Raman enhancement factor of 3.44 × 10⁶. This superior SERS sensitivity was numerical confirmed by the three‐dimensional finite‐difference time‐domain method, which demonstrated a stronger electric field intensity (|E/E₀|²) distribution around the Au nanoparticles grown on Ge. This facile and low‐cost prepared Au/Ge substrate with high SERS sensitivity and reproducibility might have potential applications in monitoring in situ reaction in aqueous solution. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.