Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Single-molecule vibrational spectroscopy is typically carried out using surface-enhanced Raman scattering and related techniques that rely on plasmonic enhancement. While these techniques are powerful, the need for the molecule of interest to interact with a nanostructured metal surface is a drawback for many applications. This review summarizes methods that have been developed to enable vibrational spectroscopy at the single-molecule level without plasmonic enhancement, which fall into two general categories. Techniques that resolve the vibrational structure in electronic emission spectra are well established and can produce high quality spectra, but require cryogenic temperatures. Newer methods that utilize more than one excitation field to couple vibrational excitation to a strong electronic transition are potentially applicable to room-temperature materials and biological samples, but single-molecule sensitivity has been demonstrated in only a few systems to date. Potential future applications of both classes of techniques are discussed.
Source: Applied Spectroscopy Reviews
Author: Anne Myers Kelley
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4408824818