Hierarchic Interfacial Nanocube Assembly for Sensitive, Selective, and Quantitative DNA Detection with Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based sensing is promising in that it has potential to allow for highly sensitive, selective, and multiplexed detection and imaging. However, the controlled assembly and gap formation between plasmonic particles for generating strong SERS signals in a quantitative manner is highly challenging, especially on biodetection platforms, and particle-to-particle variation in the signal enhancement can vary by several orders of magnitude in a single batch, largely limiting the reliable use of SERS for practical sensing applications. Here, a hierarchic-nanocube-assembly based SERS (H-Cube-SERS) bioassay to controllably amplify the electromagnetic field between gold nanocubes (AuNCs) is developed. Based on this strategy, H-Cube-SERS assay allows for detecting target DNA with a wide dynamic range from 100 aM to 10 pM concentrations in a stable and reproducib…