<title>SERS and MEF: promising techniques for biomedicine</title>

Abstract

SERS and MEF phenomena are the result of resonance excitation of localized surface plasmons in nanoparticles of some metals. By adequate choice of shapes and sizes of metallic nanoparticles, kind of adsorbed molecules and wavelength of exciting light, it is possible to achieve enhancement of intensity of Raman scattering equal to 1012-1014. It means that only few molecules inside exciting light beam are sufficient to record the Raman spectrum. Then SERS can be very sensitive tools of trace analysis and very useful in recording Raman spectra of extremely low concentrated biomolecules. The MEF technique can become very useful in study of low fluorescent compounds. In contraire to SERS system for MEF has to be specially prepared to avoid quenching of fluorescence i.e. between the metal nanoparticles and fluorophores should exist the distance layer formed by dielectric or by adsorbed nonfluorescent macromolecules. Increase of fluorescence intensity of low fluorescent compound and possibility of record fluorescence of extremely low concentrated compound cause that MEF can become very promising techniques in biomedical research.© (2006) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.