Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2018
Resonant plasmon excitations at the surface of noble metals can localize and amplify an electromagnetic field in a very small volume and are the enabling element of surface enhanced optical microscopies. Tip enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) combines scanning probe microscopy (SPM) with Raman spectroscopy, taking advantage of this enhancing mechanism. So far a 20 nm lateral resolution in chemical imaging of a surface has been achieved. So far a 20 nm lateral resolution in chemical imaging of a surface has been achieved.