Flexible SERS Substrates: Challenges and Opportunities

Traditionally, most of the fabrication, assembly and testing of plasmonic nanostructures for surface enhanced Raman scattering SERS substrates has pertained to static substrates such as glass and silicon. However, these static substrates severely limit the application of plasmonic nanostructures as i they provide no means to alter the state of assembly of the nanostructures once they are formed or anchored on the surface i.e., not reconfigurable and ii preclude applications which demand non-planar, flexible or conformal surfaces. The above considerations has led to the development of a novel class of SERS substrates based on flexible substrates such paper, polymer membranes and electrospun fibers. The workshop hosted a diverse set of scientists and engineers from academia, government and industry to identify the most critical challenges and potential opportunities in this exciting field. The workshop served as a forum to review the recent progress and exchange ideas amongst the participants with diverse research backgrounds. The workshop involved oral presentations from the principal investigators showcasing their recent work in the field and poster presentations from graduate students. A significant fraction of the time was dedicated to panel discussion to identify the most critical issues that need to be addressed.