Patent ID: 8502971

Claim:
A method for detecting single molecule, the method comprising: making a carrier comprising a substrate and a metal layer, the substrate having a surface and comprising a plurality of three-dimensional nano-structures on the surface, the metal layer is configured to cover the surface of the substrate and the three-dimensional nano-structures, wherein the carrier is fabricated by the steps of: making the substrate; forming a mask on the substrate, the mask comprising a polymer monolayer nanosphere array; simultaneously etching the substrate using the mask and tailoring the mask to form an integral structure comprising a base having a surface and the plurality of three-dimensional nano-structures on the surface of the base, wherein each of the plurality of three-dimensional nano-structures is a stepped cylindrical bulge protruding from the surface of the base and comprises a first cylinder on the base and a second cylinder on the first cylinder, a diameter of the first cylinder is greater than a diameter of the second cylinder, the simultaneously etching the substrate using the mask and tailoring the mask is performed in a reactive atmosphere consisting of chlorine, argon gas, and oxygen gas, the etching the substrate comprises chemical etching the substrate with chlorine gas, and the tailoring the mask comprises chemical etching the polymer monolayer nanosphere array with oxygen gas; removing the mask; and depositing the metal layer on the substrate; disposing single molecule samples on the metal layer; and detecting the single molecule samples using a detector.