Photo-induced enhanced Raman spectroscopy for universal ultra-trace detection of explosives, pollutants and biomolecules

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy is one of the most sensitive spectroscopic techniques available, with single-molecule detection possible on a range of noble-metal substrates. It is widely used to detect molecules that have a strong Raman response at very low concentrations. Here we present photo-induced-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, where the combination of plasmonic nanoparticles with a photo-activated substrate gives rise to large signal enhancement (an order of magnitude) for a wide range of small molecules, even those with a typically low Raman cross-section. We show that the induced chemical enhancement is due to increased electron density at the noble-metal nanoparticles, and demonstrate the universality of this system with explosives, biomolecules and organic dyes, at trace levels. Our substrates are also easy to fabricate, self-cleaning and reusable.