Modeling the Effect of Small Gaps in Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Abstract

The electromagnetic mechanism of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) involves plasmon enhancement of the optical-frequency electric fields on the surfaces of silver or gold (or sometimes other) nanoparticles where molecules that exhibit Raman scattering are located. It has long been recognized that the largest electric fields are associated with small gaps (∼1 nm) between two or more nanoparticles (including fused particle structures) that are 20–100 nm in size. Recent advances in electromagnetic theory calculations, which we overview in this article, provide a clear quantitative picture of the SERS enhancement associated with this effect. These advances include: (1) recognition of the nanoparticle structures that give the highest enhancement factors for a given gap size; (2) determination of the dependence of enhancement factor on gap size in the small-gap limit; (3) the use of finite-element methods, rather than cubic grid-based methods, to evaluate enhancement factors; (4) evaluation of the dipo...