Micro-curvature effects on SERS enhancement in curved substrates

Exploring the impact of micro-curvatures on SERS performance reveals untapped potential in optomechanical enhancement. We developed a flexible microbending structure, termed a "microbender," to systematically investigate how micro-curvature influences the SERS response. Raman measurements confirmed that bending boosts SERS intensity by increasing light scattering, guiding, and field localization. A curved array with 6 µm radii, 0.8 µm-diameter pillars, and 0.2 µm spacing was shown to produce Raman signals equivalent to those of densely packed planar arrays fabricated at much higher resolution. These findings highlight that by applying micro-curvatures, we can achieve high SERS performance with low-resolution fabrication methods, offering a promising alternative to the current drive for ever-smaller, high-resolution planar SERS structures.