Abstract: | Semiordered Ag nanorod arrays are fabricated by template oblique angle deposition (OAD) using regular Au nano‐post arrays with different diameters as seed patterns. The Au nano‐post arrays do not give an observable surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity under our detection configuration, whereas the patterned Ag nanorod arrays can produce a very strong SERS signal. These SERS intensities increase monotonically with the decrease in the diameter and separation of the Ag nanorods, which demonstrates that one can improve the SERS detection by tuning the diameter and separation of the Ag nanorods, and the template OAD method can help produce more uniform, reproducible, and sensitive Ag nanorod SERS substrates. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |