Carbyne, a linear chain of carbon atoms, is the truly one-dimensional allotrope of carbon and the strongest known Raman scatterer. Here, we use tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) to further enhance the Raman response of a single carbyne chain confined inside a double-walled carbon nanotube. We observe an increase of the anti-Stokes scattering by a factor of 3290 and a 22-fold enhancement of the anti-Stokes/Stokes ratio relative to far-field measurements. The power dependence of the anti-Stokes/Stokes ratio under TERS conditions is indicative of coherent Stokes-anti-Stokes scattering mediated by an excited phonon. The role of resonance effects and laser-induced heating are discussed and potential opportunities are outlined.
Keywords: Raman scattering; TERS; anti-Stokes; carbon chain; carbyne.