State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, College of Optical Science & Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
Ningbo Research Institute, Zhejiang University, Ningbo 315100, China.
Sensors (Basel). 2022 Jun 29;22(13):4889. doi: 10.3390/s22134889.
Single-molecule surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SM-SERS) has the potential to detect single molecules in a non-invasive, label-free manner with high-throughput. SM-SERS can detect chemical information of single molecules without statistical averaging and has wide application in chemical analysis, nanoelectronics, biochemical sensing, etc. Recently, a series of unprecedented advances have been realized in science and application by SM-SERS, which has attracted the interest of various fields. In this review, we first elucidate the key concepts of SM-SERS, including enhancement factor (EF), spectral fluctuation, and experimental evidence of single-molecule events. Next, we systematically discuss advanced implementations of SM-SERS, including substrates with ultra-high EF and reproducibility, strategies to improve the probability of molecules being localized in hotspots, and nonmetallic and hybrid substrates. Then, several examples for the application of SM-SERS are proposed, including catalysis, nanoelectronics, and sensing. Finally, we summarize the challenges and future of SM-SERS. We hope this literature review will inspire the interest of researchers in more fields.
单分子表面增强拉曼光谱（SM-SERS）具有非侵入式、无需标记和高通量检测单分子的潜力。SM-SERS 可以在不进行统计平均的情况下检测单分子的化学信息，在化学分析、纳电子学、生物化学传感等领域有广泛的应用。最近，SM-SERS 在科学和应用方面取得了一系列前所未有的进展，引起了各个领域的兴趣。在这篇综述中，我们首先阐明了 SM-SERS 的关键概念，包括增强因子（EF）、光谱波动和单分子事件的实验证据。接下来，我们系统地讨论了 SM-SERS 的高级实现，包括具有超高 EF 和可重复性的衬底、提高分子定域在热点概率的策略，以及非金属和混合衬底。然后，提出了 SM-SERS 的几个应用实例，包括催化、纳电子学和传感。最后，我们总结了 SM-SERS 的挑战和未来。我们希望这篇文献综述能激发更多领域研究人员的兴趣。
