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Tip-enhanced Raman scattering for atomic-scale spectroscopy and imaging

Nature Reviews Physics volume 5, page 5 (2023)Cite this article

Atomic-scale spectroscopy provides an exceptional ability to define electronic, optical, thermal, mechanical, and chemical properties of materials at the nanoscale. At these scales, dimensional confinement can lead to new and unusual properties, where the intrinsic natures and interfaces of individual atoms and molecules can result in quantum phenomena that are not exhibited in bulk materials. Realizing the full potential of these unique properties hinges upon the ability to probe them with suitable spatial resolution. Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) uses a tunnelling current between a sharp tip and the sample to yield real-space images of individual atoms and molecules. However, it lacks chemical sensitivity and therefore it is difficult to define unknown species or structures with STM alone. By contrast, complementary approaches, such as spectroscopy, can provide chemical identification as well as define physical and electronic structures. However, there is a mismatch between the spatial resolution of the two techniques, as the diffraction limit of light leads to ensemble-based measurements where average properties are observed, obscuring local inhomogeneities. Instead, scanning near-field optical microscopy methods, such as tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS), can be used to probe individual atoms and molecules with atomically confined light.

TERS requires optical coupling into and out of the STM tip–sample junction, which becomes complicated in the case of a cryogenic UHV–STM. Over time, various optical setups have seemed to converge into designs that incorporate the final excitation and collection optical elements within the UHV chamber as close to the tip–sample junction as possible, mounted on piezoelectric drivers that allow for the fine adjustment of their alignment and focus.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks N. Jiang for his support and helpful contribution to the manuscript. The author acknowledges a NIST National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship.

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  1. Nanoscale Device Characterization Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA

    Jeremy F. Schultz

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  1. Jeremy F. Schultz
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Correspondence to Jeremy F. Schultz.

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Schultz, J.F. Tip-enhanced Raman scattering for atomic-scale spectroscopy and imaging. Nat Rev Phys 5, 5 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-022-00537-0

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