title: SERS--a single-molecule and nanoscale tool for bioanalytics.
abstract: Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) at extremely high enhancement level turns the weak inelastic scattering effect of photons on vibrational quantum states into a structurally sensitive single-molecule and nanoscale probe. The effect opens up exciting opportunities for applications of vibrational spectroscopy in biology. The concept of SERS can be extended to two-photon excitation by exploiting surface enhanced hyper-Raman scattering (SEHRS). This critical review introduces the physics behind single-molecule SERS and discusses the capabilities of the effect in bioanalytics (100 references).
authors.affiliation: Harvard University Medical School, Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Boston, MA 02114, USA. jkneipp@janina-kneipp.de
authors.forename: Janina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kneipp
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kneipp
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kneipp
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002477:Cells / Q000737:chemistry; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles; D015335:Molecular Probes / Q000737:chemistry*; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D015335:Molecular Probes; D012834:Silver; D006046:Gold