Nanoscale probing of adsorbed species by tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Phys Rev Lett. 2004 Mar 5;92(9):096101. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.096101. Epub 2004 Mar 2.

Abstract

Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) is based on the optical excitation of localized surface plasmons in the tip-substrate cavity, which provides a large but local field enhancement near the tip apex. We report on TERS with smooth single crystalline surfaces as substrates. The adsorbates were CN- ions at Au(111) and malachite green isothiocyanate (MGITC) molecules at Au(111) and Pt(110) using either Au or Ir tips. The data analysis yields Raman enhancements of about 4 x 10(5) for CN- and up to 10(6) for MGITC at Au(111) with a Au tip, probing an area of less than 100 nm radius.