Surface plasmon mediated tip enhanced Raman scattering

Abstract

The Raman signal can be strongly increased for molecules deposited on a thin metal film in a configuration where the emission of the Raman signal into a glass support of the film is mediated by leaky surface plasmons (SPs). Here we show that SP provides an efficient pathway to detect tip enhanced Raman scattering (TERS). Based on this result, we suggest a new edge plasmon mediated TERS configuration. Plasmon modes on metal covered edges of a dielectric tetrahedral tip couple to a highly directional beam of light into the dielectric body of the tip as a pathway for signal detection.