Shedding light on mystery of Raman signal enhancement (w/video)

URL

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=21131.php

Description

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, or SERS, is a surface-sensitive technique capitalizing on the enhancement of a Raman signal from a molecule placed on a rough metal surface. This surface behaves like an array of antennas, amplifying a signal billions of times or more and making it easier to detect. In recent years, this technique has been used to identify faded pigments in watercolor artist Winslow Homer's colorless skies, and proposed as a nanoscale sensor in biological warfare. However, the chemical aspect of this enhancement has baffled researchers for decades.