Rational Design of Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Substrate for Highly Reproducible Analysis

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is an intense ongoing hot topic due to the ultrahigh sensitivity of intrinsic molecular fingerprint information. However, the reliable SERS analysis is restricted because of the lack of efficient control over the large scale of Raman substrates. With the evolution of nanotechnology, new approaches are being developed to produce substrates with higher reproducibility. In this review, we briefly introduce the factors that affect the reproducibility for SERS analysis. The recent progress in the design of SERS-active substrates is further summarized, including fabrication of uniform nanostructures, accurate control of nanogaps and molecular regulation. In the end, an outlook of the direction of reliable SERS detection is given.