{"id":27371,"date":"2025-08-05T10:24:30","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T04:39:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/?p=27371"},"modified":"2025-08-05T10:24:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T04:39:50","slug":"single-molecule-detection-chinese-scientists-advance-raman-spectroscopy-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/single-molecule-detection-chinese-scientists-advance-raman-spectroscopy-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Single-Molecule Detection: Chinese Scientists Advance Raman Spectroscopy Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"c4bfb8\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"596\" height=\"700\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 596px) 100vw, 596px\" src=\"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27372 not-transparent\" style=\"--dominant-color: #c4bfb8; width:840px;height:auto\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate.webp 596w, https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate-575x675.webp 575w, https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate-150x176.webp 150w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Researchers at the South China University of Technology have made a significant leap in the field of molecular analysis by advancing the capabilities of single-molecule Raman spectroscopy (SM-RS). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This technique, aimed at matching the sensitivity of fluorescence-based methods, enables scientists to observe individual molecules with unprecedented clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Traditional Raman spectroscopy often suffers from limited detection sensitivity due to fundamental physical constraints. SM-RS, with its ultra-sensitive nature, allows researchers to sidestep the limitations of bulk averaging and detect subtle, dynamic molecular behaviors at the single-molecule level. This represents a major step forward in precision spectroscopy and molecular science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A key enabler of SM-RS is surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), which relies on two enhancement mechanisms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Electromagnetic Enhancement (EME): Uses plasmonic nanostructures to amplify Raman signals up to 10\u201311 orders of magnitude.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chemical Enhancement (CME)<strong>:<\/strong> Increases Raman scattering through charge transfer and chemical bonding interactions, contributing up to 4\u20135 orders of magnitude.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>While each method offers impressive gains individually, neither can achieve the full enhancement required for ideal SM-RS on its own. However, when combined synergistically, EME and CME bring researchers closer to this goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The WS\u2082-Au Nanogap Breakthrough<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Led by Professor Zhi-Yuan Li, the team developed a hybrid substrate that bridges these techniques. The innovation centers around a WS\u2082-Au nanogap system where:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Gold nanospheres and a gold mirror create intense plasmonic hotspots.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A thin SiO\u2082 layer optimizes EME effects.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Single-layer WS\u2082 crystals provide strong CME.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Target molecules, bound to WS\u2082 flakes, occupy the exact nanoscopic \u201chotspots\u201d where both EME and CME converge.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>New Mechanism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To further enhance detection, Prof. Li\u2019s group introduced a Coulomb attraction-driven spontaneous \u201cmolecule-hotspot\u201d pairing mechanism. This approach ensures efficient coupling between molecules and hotspot regions, optimizing the synergistic effect. The use of near-infrared lasers (785 nm) also minimizes interference from background fluorescence, improving the clarity of detection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Their findings, published in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oejournal.org\/oea\/article\/doi\/10.29026\/oea.2025.240309\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PhotoniX<\/a><\/em>, open new doors for real-time molecular characterization, offering transformative implications for chemical analysis, biosensing, and materials science.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers at the South China University of Technology have made a significant leap in the field of molecular analysis by advancing the capabilities of single-molecule Raman spectroscopy (SM-RS). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate.webp",596,700,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate-200x200.webp",200,200,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate-575x675.webp",575,675,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate.webp",596,700,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate.webp",596,700,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate.webp",596,700,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate.webp",596,700,false],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate.webp",596,700,false],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate-596x570.webp",596,570,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate.webp",596,700,false],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate-596x600.webp",596,600,true],"newspaper-x-single-post":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate-596x490.webp",596,490,true],"newspaper-x-recent-post-big":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate-550x360.webp",550,360,true],"newspaper-x-recent-post-list-image":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate-95x65.webp",95,65,true],"web-stories-poster-portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate.webp",596,700,false],"web-stories-publisher-logo":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate-96x96.webp",96,96,true],"web-stories-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SM-SERS-substrate-150x176.webp",150,176,true]},"author_info":{"info":["RevoScience"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/category\/news\/research\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Research<\/a>","tag_info":"Research","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27371"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27373,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27371\/revisions\/27373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}