ATEC-NC and ATEC-CONT Si AFM cantilevers
(NanoAndMore, Germany) were used to prepare contact mode and tapping
mode TERS probes. To increase the refractive index of the surface,25 (link) Si cantilevers were oxidized in a furnace (Carbolite
Gero, U.K.) at 1000 °C for 22.5 h to obtain a SiO2 layer of ∼300 nm. Before metal coating, oxidized cantilevers
were cleaned inside a UV–ozone cleaner (Ossila, United Kingdom)
for 1 h. Probes were then coated with Au (99.99%, Acros Organics)
to a nominal thickness of 100 nm at 0.02 nm/s and a pressure of <10–6 mbar inside a thermal evaporation system (MBraun,
Germany). To prepare contamination-free TERS probes with high plasmonic
sensitivity, the entire thermal evaporation system was placed inside
a nitrogen glovebox (MBraun, Germany) with <0.1 ppm of oxygen and
moisture.
(NanoAndMore, Germany) were used to prepare contact mode and tapping
mode TERS probes. To increase the refractive index of the surface,25 (link) Si cantilevers were oxidized in a furnace (Carbolite
Gero, U.K.) at 1000 °C for 22.5 h to obtain a SiO2 layer of ∼300 nm. Before metal coating, oxidized cantilevers
were cleaned inside a UV–ozone cleaner (Ossila, United Kingdom)
for 1 h. Probes were then coated with Au (99.99%, Acros Organics)
to a nominal thickness of 100 nm at 0.02 nm/s and a pressure of <10–6 mbar inside a thermal evaporation system (MBraun,
Germany). To prepare contamination-free TERS probes with high plasmonic
sensitivity, the entire thermal evaporation system was placed inside
a nitrogen glovebox (MBraun, Germany) with <0.1 ppm of oxygen and
moisture.