Surface plasmon resonance and surface-enhanced Raman scattering sensing enabled by digital versatile discs

We report the simultaneous achievement of sensitive surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensing using digital versatile discs (DVDs). The aluminum-covered data tracks of DVDs can efficiently concentrate local electromagnetic field, resulting in an excellent SPR medium (with sensitivity of ∼850 nm per refractive index unit which is higher than that of most available nanofabricated plasmonic substrates) with a small but measurable SERS enhancement. The SPR sensitivity and the optical spectra, as well as the distribution of electric field amplitude, are simulated using a finite-difference time-domain model. The theoretical predictions agree reasonably well with the experimental results.