Attenuation of surface-enhanced Raman scattering of magnetic–plasmonic FePt@Ag core–shell nanoparticles due to an external magnetic field

The surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activities of Ag and FePt@Ag nanoparticle probes were examined using thiophenol as a Raman reporter molecule in the absence and presence of a magnetic field. Under external magnetic fields of different field strength, the SERS activities of both types of nanoparticles (NPs) were weakened as a function of magnetic field strength. The attenuation degree of SERS activity by the magnetic field in the case of FePt@Ag NPs is found to be two times higher than for Ag NPs, because the superparamagnetic FePt cores enhance the local magnetic field at the area of the Ag shells.