Figure 21.

The reproducibility/uniformity and the Raman enhancement for a large number of substrates (Y axis) is correlated to the degree of order (X axis). The reproducibility/uniformity (short dashed line) increases with the degree or order of the substrate, while the enhancement (long dashed line) follows the opposite trend. For relevant applications, SERS substrates have to satisfy a tradeoff between the former and the latter. Reproduced with permission from Milton et al. [303]. Copyright (2008), John Wiley and Sons.