Correlation between scattering properties of silver particle arrays and fluorescence enhancement

We report on the nanofabrication of patterned silver particle arrays using electron-beam lithography and the evaluation of their optical properties using backscattering and fluorescence spectroscopy. The silver particles varied in size from 100 to 250 nm and were in the shape of circles, squares, and triangles. Three inter-particle separations, 40, 65, and 90 nm as measured from the side of one particle to the side of the next particle, were used. We observed distinctive patterns of backscattering and fluorescence intensity depending on the particle size, inter-particle spacing, and excitation/emission wavelength used. Our approach allows for a study of the correlation between the backscattering intensities and fluorescence enhancement of silver particle arrays, which can be used to optimize the arrays for multi-fluorophore configuration for advanced sensing designs.