{ "id": "ep62t0mgzw", "slug": "tip-enhanced-raman-spectroscopy", "title": "Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy", "updated": "2026-10-15", "topic_path": [ { "id": "physical", "label": "Physical world and mathematics", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/physical" }, { "id": "physical.physics", "label": "Physics", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/physical.physics" }, { "id": "physical.physics.practice", "label": "Physics methods, practice, and community", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/physical.physics.practice" }, { "id": "physical.physics.practice.scanning-probe-microscopy", "label": "Scanning probe microscopy", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/physical.physics.practice.scanning-probe-microscopy" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.nongeo.t1946.physical.physics.practice", "label": "Non-geographic · 1946 to 2000: Physics methods, practice, and community", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.t1946.physical.physics.practice", "path": [ { "id": "geo.nongeo", "label": "Non-geographic", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.t1946", "label": "Non-geographic · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.t1946.physical", "label": "Physical world and mathematics", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.t1946.physical" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.t1946.physical.physics", "label": "Physics", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.t1946.physical.physics" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.t1946.physical.physics.practice", "label": "Physics methods, practice, and community", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.t1946.physical.physics.practice" } ] }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.t2001.physical.physics.practice", "label": "Non-geographic · 2001 to 2020: Physics methods, practice, and community", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.t2001.physical.physics.practice", "path": [ { "id": "geo.nongeo", "label": "Non-geographic", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.t2001", "label": "Non-geographic · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.t2001.physical", "label": "Physical world and mathematics", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.t2001.physical" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.t2001.physical.physics", "label": "Physics", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.t2001.physical.physics" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.t2001.physical.physics.practice", "label": "Physics methods, practice, and community", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.t2001.physical.physics.practice" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, or TERS, is a scanning probe technique demonstrated in 2000 that merges the chemical specificity of Raman with the spatial resolution of AFM or STM.", "snippet": "Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, or TERS, is a scanning probe technique demonstrated in 2000 that merges the chemical specificity of Raman with the spatial resolution of AFM or STM.", "node": "physical.physics.practice.scanning-probe-microscopy", "markdown": "# Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy\n\nTip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) is a scanning-probe technique that combines atomic force microscopy (AFM) or scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) with [Raman spectroscopy](https://www.edgepedia.org/raman-spectroscopy), using a nanoscale metal tip to enhance and localize the Raman signal from a surface. It measures the molecular composition and structure of a surface with lateral and depth resolution down to the nanometer scale and beyond.[1](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43586-024-00323-5) In effect, TERS merges the chemical specificity of Raman spectroscopy, the signal enhancement known from surface-enhanced [Raman scattering](https://www.edgepedia.org/raman-scattering) (SERS), and the spatial resolution of AFM or STM, reaching roughly 10 nm resolution; single-molecule sensitivity has been demonstrated, particularly under ultralow-temperature and ultrahigh-vacuum conditions, but is not a routine capability.[2](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201203849) • [28](https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/2474988) It is a variant of apertureless near-field optical microscopy extended to inelastic light scattering.[3](https://ar5iv.labs.arxiv.org/html/0803.4464)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| What it measures | Molecular composition and structure of surfaces, with nanometer-scale lateral and depth resolution[1](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43586-024-00323-5) |\n| Enhancement mechanism | Localized surface plasmon resonance and the lightning-rod effect at a metal tip apex; Raman intensity scales with the fourth power of the local field[4](https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1140/epjti/s40485-015-0019-5.pdf) |\n| Typical enhancement | \\( 10^{6} \\) to \\( 10^{8} \\) in conventional gap-mode TERS; \\( 10^{12} \\) to \\( 10^{13} \\) with picocavity tips[5](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.35848/1347-4065/adc268/meta) |\n| Spatial resolution | About 20 nm for ambient AFM-TERS; subnanometre to 4.8 Å under cryogenic ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) with STM[4](https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1140/epjti/s40485-015-0019-5.pdf) • [6](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12947622/) |\n| First demonstrations | 2000, by three groups publishing independently (a fourth count also appears in the literature)[7](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0009-2614%2899%2901451-7) • [8](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0003702820932229) • [9](https://www.chimia.ch/chimia/article/download/2025_52/2025_52) |\n| Common tips | Electrochemically etched Au or Ag wires, metal-coated AFM cantilevers, focused-ion-beam milled tips[3](https://ar5iv.labs.arxiv.org/html/0803.4464) |\n| Practical laser power | Around 100 µW is recommended to preserve tip and sample integrity[9](https://www.chimia.ch/chimia/article/download/2025_52/2025_52) |\n\n## How it works\n\nThe enhancement rests on two electromagnetic effects at the tip apex. Illumination drives a localized surface plasmon resonance (a collective oscillation of conduction electrons) in the metal tip, and the tip's elongated shape concentrates the field electrostatically through the lightning-rod effect, which a detailed analysis assigns a substantial role in the observed signal.[4](https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1140/epjti/s40485-015-0019-5.pdf) • [10](https://analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jrs.3021) The Raman intensity from molecules in the near field is proportional to the fourth power of the local electric field, so a modest field enhancement translates into a large intensity gain.[4](https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1140/epjti/s40485-015-0019-5.pdf) For a typical metallic tip of about 20 nm apex radius, the field below the apex is approximately tenfold larger than the incident field.[1](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43586-024-00323-5)\n\n**Gap mode** matters because the tip-sample distance controls the coupling. When a plasmonic tip operates over a metallic substrate, the tip and surface form a coupled plasmonic gap that intensifies the field, giving a typical field enhancement of at least 100 at tip-sample distances of several nanometers.[1](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43586-024-00323-5) • [11](https://nano-optics.colorado.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Berweger_AnalBioanalChem_09_MainText.pdf) On dielectric substrates without this coupling, the Raman contrast can fall to a factor of only 1 or 2, whereas gap-mode operation over metallic substrates yields contrasts of orders of magnitude.[9](https://www.chimia.ch/chimia/article/download/2025_52/2025_52) Atomic-scale protrusions on the tip, called picocavities, confine light to single atoms and add a threefold to fivefold signal enhancement, enabling routine resolution of intramolecular vibrational features.[1](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43586-024-00323-5) A chemical-enhancement channel from tip-molecule charge transfer adds a further factor of 10 to \\( 10^{3} \\).[9](https://www.chimia.ch/chimia/article/download/2025_52/2025_52)\n\n## How it is done\n\n**Tip fabrication** is the first practical hurdle. Electrochemical etching of gold wires in hydrochloric acid \\( \\mathrm{Au} + 4\\mathrm{Cl}^{-} \\rightarrow \\mathrm{AuCl}_{4}^{-} + 3e^{-} \\) produces sharp gold tips with radii below 10 nm and high reproducibility.[12](https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1688442) The most common TERS tip preparation today is metallization (gold or silver) of conventional AFM cantilevers with a thin layer of a few tens of nanometers, applied by evaporation, sputtering, or electroplating; random nucleation can give low yield, and electrodeposition routes (e.g., pulsed and bipolar electrodeposition) are also established methods for fabricating gold- and silver-coated AFM TERS tips; depositing a thin SiO\\(_{2}\\), SiO\\(_{x}\\), or AlF\\(_{3}\\) underlayer before Ag deposition raised the evaporation yield to close to 100% with high enhancement.[4](https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1140/epjti/s40485-015-0019-5.pdf) Other routes include focused ion beam milling, metal-coating of cantilevers, and nanoparticles attached to glass tips.[3](https://ar5iv.labs.arxiv.org/html/0803.4464) UHV groups post-process tips with Ar⁺ sputtering or focused ion beam milling, and field-directed sputter sharpening produces nanoscopically smooth silver tips.[8](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0003702820932229) • [13](https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.7b06022)\n\n**Illumination and feedback** follow. Side-on illumination with plasmonic tip-sample coupling yields achievable signals more than five times higher than axial illumination through high-numerical-aperture optics.[11](https://nano-optics.colorado.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Berweger_AnalBioanalChem_09_MainText.pdf) UHV setups use side illumination with lenses outside or inside the chamber, or parabolic-mirror focusing.[8](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0003702820932229) The feedback mode sets the tip-sample distance and therefore the time-averaged enhancement: shear-force feedback holds about 10 nm, contact mode less than 1 nm, and STM about 1 nm.[11](https://nano-optics.colorado.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Berweger_AnalBioanalChem_09_MainText.pdf)\n\n**Spectrum acquisition** uses a two-step measurement: the tip is positioned over the sample to record the tip-enhanced signal, then retracted several hundred nanometers to record the far-field background, and the near-field signal is obtained as \\( I_{\\mathrm{nf}} = I_{\\mathrm{TERS}} - I_{\\mathrm{ff}} \\).[14](http://naspec.ap.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp/pdf/17_ChemRev.pdf) • [15](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.chemrev.6b00343) Laser power is kept around 100 µW to preserve tip and sample.[9](https://www.chimia.ch/chimia/article/download/2025_52/2025_52)\n\n## Origin\n\nTERS was experimentally realized in 2000 by three groups publishing independently: Raoul M. Stöckle and colleagues in Chemical Physics Letters, who coined the name tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy; Norihiko Hayazawa and colleagues in Optics Communications; and [Mark S. Anderson](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-s-anderson) in [Applied Physics Letters](https://www.edgepedia.org/applied-physics-letters), who used an AFM tip to selectively produce surface-enhanced Raman scattering for localized spectroscopy.[7](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0009-2614%2899%2901451-7) • [16](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0030-4018%2800%2900894-4) • [17](https://doi.org/10.1063/1.126546) The method built on SERS, apertureless near-field microscopy, and scanning probe microscopy.[3](https://ar5iv.labs.arxiv.org/html/0803.4464) • [2](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201203849) Bruno Pettinger and colleagues reported STM-tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy at metal surfaces in 2002,[18](https://doi.org/10.1002/1438-5171%28200211%293:5/6<285::aid-simo285>3.0.co;2-x) and in 2004 Pettinger and colleagues achieved enhancements of about \\( 4 \\cdot 10^{5} \\) for \\( \\mathrm{CN}^{-} \\) and up to \\( 10^{6} \\) for MGITC on Au(111) with a gold tip, probing areas of less than 100 nm radius.[19](https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.92.096101) Bin Ren, Gennaro Picardi and Bruno Pettinger published the electrochemical gold-tip preparation in 2004.[12](https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1688442) Jens Steidtner and Pettinger reached 15 nm resolution on single dye molecules under UHV in 2008,[20](https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.100.236101) and R. Zhang and colleagues reported chemical mapping of a single molecule by plasmon-enhanced Raman scattering in Nature in 2013.[21](https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12151)\n\n## Variants\n\n**STM-TERS versus AFM-TERS.** STM control of the tip-sample distance through the tunneling current gives greater stability, higher enhancement, and better spatial resolution, but restricts measurements to conductive substrates or very thin non-conductive samples; AFM-TERS works across sample types and environments, including insulators, with contact, non-contact, and tapping feedback modes.[1](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43586-024-00323-5) • [9](https://www.chimia.ch/chimia/article/download/2025_52/2025_52) • [5](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.35848/1347-4065/adc268/meta) Both reach single-molecule sensitivity, and subnanometre resolution, including sub-molecular resolution, has been demonstrated only under cryogenic UHV STM conditions.[1](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43586-024-00323-5)\n\n**UHV and cryogenic operation** provides pristine environments, molecular-resolution imaging, low-temperature operation, minimized tip and molecular degradation, and improved stability under ultrafast irradiation; multiple companies have commercialized TERS apparatuses.[15](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.chemrev.6b00343)\n\n**Shell-isolated tips** were reported by Ya-Ping Huang and colleagues in 2018 as shell-isolated tip-enhanced Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy, extending the shell-isolated approach to tip geometry.[22](https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201802892)\n\n**CO-terminated tips and picocavities.** Nicholas Tallarida, Joonhee Lee and V. Ara Apkarian introduced TERS-relayed molecular force microscopy with CO-terminated tips, exploiting the large Stark tuning rate of the CO stretch to image molecular structure and charge with atomic resolution.[13](https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.7b06022) Joonhee Lee and colleagues attained ångström-scale resolution at subatomic tip-molecule separation in the quantum tunneling regime of plasmons, recording vibrational spectra within a single molecule.[23](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1059-9)\n\n## Applications\n\nTERS is applied to structural analysis of biomolecules, nanoscale chemical reactivity, and the intrinsic physical properties of 2D materials,[1](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43586-024-00323-5) as well as carbon nanotubes, liquid and electrochemical environments, and surface science.[8](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0003702820932229) In catalysis, Jiang and co-workers used UHV-STM-TERS to chemically identify individual adatoms with single-bond sensitivity during the oxidation of borophene on Ag(111) at 78 K with 4.8 Å spatial resolution.[6](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12947622/) On-surface chemistry studies use the technique's nanometer resolution and surface selection rules, which favor modes with polarizability tensor components normal to the sample plane.[24](https://pubs.chemsoc.org.cn/doi/10.31635/ccschem.022.202202287) Point-contact TERS has extended the method to organic molecules chemisorbed on non-plasmonic semiconductor substrates, and picocavity operation has enabled measurements on molecular hydrogen physisorbed on metal surfaces.[25](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12603967/) • [26](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/vss/68/11/68_20181603/_article/-char/en)\n\n## Limitations and alternatives\n\n**Tip lifetime and yield.** Silver gives the strongest visible-range enhancement but oxidizes in ambient air, losing enhancing capability within a few hours, so gold is preferred for ambient work; typical electrochemically etched silver tips have radii of curvature between 20 and 60 nm and cannot form picocavities without post-treatment such as Ar⁺ sputtering or CO decoration.[4](https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1140/epjti/s40485-015-0019-5.pdf) • [5](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.35848/1347-4065/adc268/meta)\n\n**Background and throughput.** For bulk crystalline systems, the far-field background and small Raman cross sections are a significant impediment, while thin films and nanocrystals are more tractable.[11](https://nano-optics.colorado.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Berweger_AnalBioanalChem_09_MainText.pdf) Imaging is slow, with integration times of sometimes several seconds per pixel, and long experiments suffer drift and tip degradation.[24](https://pubs.chemsoc.org.cn/doi/10.31635/ccschem.022.202202287) Ambient measurements also face sample degradation from plasmon-induced hot carriers, heating, and oxygen activation.[24](https://pubs.chemsoc.org.cn/doi/10.31635/ccschem.022.202202287) At high resolution the dipole approximation can fail: multipolar and tensorial scattering produce spectral changes easily confused with plasmon-induced chemistry, and molecular reorientation should be considered first when comparing TERS with conventional Raman spectra.[27](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2023/cc/d3cc00434a)\n\n**Resolution by regime.** Ambient model systems reach about 3 nm resolution, and moving from low temperature to ambient conditions empirically lowers attainable resolution to 1 to a few nanometers; subnanometre resolution requires UHV at cryogenic temperatures.[24](https://pubs.chemsoc.org.cn/doi/10.31635/ccschem.022.202202287) • [27](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2023/cc/d3cc00434a)\n\n**Comparison with SERS.** Published estimates of the conventional TERS enhancement factor disagree: one review gives \\( 10^{6} \\) to \\( 10^{8} \\) in gap mode,[5](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.35848/1347-4065/adc268/meta) while another reports about \\( 10^{3} \\) to \\( 10^{6} \\), weaker than SERS because the tip acts as a single antenna lacking the multiple hot spots of SERS nanoparticle aggregates.[14](http://naspec.ap.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp/pdf/17_ChemRev.pdf) What TERS offers that SERS and shell-isolated nanoparticle-enhanced Raman spectroscopy cannot is nanometer spatial resolution.[24](https://pubs.chemsoc.org.cn/doi/10.31635/ccschem.022.202202287)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Tip-enhanced Raman scattering (Nature Reviews Methods Primers, 2024)](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43586-024-00323-5)\n2. [Nanoscale Chemical Imaging Using Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy: A Critical Review (Angewandte Chemie)](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201203849)\n3. [Tip-enhanced Raman imaging and spectroscopy: sensitivity, symmetry and selection rules (arXiv copy of review)](https://ar5iv.labs.arxiv.org/html/0803.4464)\n4. [Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy: principles and applications (EPJ Techniques and Instrumentation, Kumar et al. 2015)](https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1140/epjti/s40485-015-0019-5.pdf)\n5. [Advanced progress on tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and its applications (Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. review, 2025)](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.35848/1347-4065/adc268/meta)\n6. [Nanoscale Chemical Analysis of Heterogeneous Catalysts Using Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (PMC-hosted review)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12947622/)\n7. [Nanoscale chemical analysis by tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (Chemical Physics Letters, 2000)](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0009-2614%2899%2901451-7)\n8. [The Expanding Frontiers of Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (Applied Spectroscopy)](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0003702820932229)\n9. [Toward a New Era of SERS and TERS at the Nanometer Scale (CHIMIA, 2025)](https://www.chimia.ch/chimia/article/download/2025_52/2025_52)\n10. [Exploring the origin of tip-enhanced Raman scattering; preparation of efficient TERS probes with high yield (J. Raman Spectrosc., 2011)](https://analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jrs.3021)\n11. [Signal limitations in tip-enhanced Raman scattering: the challenge to become a routine analytical technique (Anal. Bioanal. Chem., 2009, author-hosted copy)](https://nano-optics.colorado.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Berweger_AnalBioanalChem_09_MainText.pdf)\n12. [Bin Ren, Gennaro Picardi, Bruno Pettinger (2004). Preparation of gold tips suitable for tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and light emission by electrochemical etching. Review of Scientific Instruments.](https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1688442)\n13. [Nicholas Tallarida, Joonhee Lee, Vartkess Ara Apkarian (2017). Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectromicroscopy on the Angstrom Scale: Bare and CO-Terminated Ag Tips. ACS Nano.](https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.7b06022)\n14. [Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy: Technique and Recent Advances (Chemical Reviews, Verma 2017, author-hosted copy)](http://naspec.ap.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp/pdf/17_ChemRev.pdf)\n15. [Ultrahigh-Vacuum Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (Chemical Reviews)](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.chemrev.6b00343)\n16. [Metallized tip amplification of near-field Raman scattering (Optics Communications, 2000)](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0030-4018%2800%2900894-4)\n17. [Mark S. Anderson (2000). Locally enhanced Raman spectroscopy with an atomic force microscope. Applied Physics Letters.](https://doi.org/10.1063/1.126546)\n18. [6<285::aid simo285>3.0.co (doi.org)](https://doi.org/10.1002/1438-5171%28200211%293:5/6<285::aid-simo285>3.0.co;2-x)\n19. [Bruno Pettinger and colleagues (2004). Nanoscale Probing of Adsorbed Species by Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy. Physical Review Letters.](https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.92.096101)\n20. [Jens Steidtner, Bruno Pettinger (2008). Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy and Microscopy on Single Dye Molecules with 15 nm Resolution. Physical Review Letters.](https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.100.236101)\n21. [R. Zhang and colleagues (2013). Chemical mapping of a single molecule by plasmon-enhanced Raman scattering. Nature.](https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12151)\n22. [Ya‐Ping Huang and colleagues (2018). Shell‐Isolated Tip‐Enhanced Raman and Fluorescence Spectroscopy. Angewandte Chemie International Edition.](https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201802892)\n23. [Visualizing vibrational normal modes of a single molecule with atomically confined light (Nature)](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1059-9)\n24. [Probing On-Surface Chemistry at the Nanoscale Using Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (CCS Chemistry)](https://pubs.chemsoc.org.cn/doi/10.31635/ccschem.022.202202287)\n25. [Submolecular-Resolution Probing of Vibrational Anharmonicity Using Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (PMC-hosted original research)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12603967/)\n26. [Picocavity-based Tip-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy at the Single-molecule Level (Vacuum and Surface Science, 2025)](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/vss/68/11/68_20181603/_article/-char/en)\n27. [High spatial resolution ambient tip-enhanced (multipolar) Raman scattering (Chem. Commun., 2023)](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2023/cc/d3cc00434a)\n28. [osti.gov](https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/2474988)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Physical world and mathematics › Physics › Physics methods, practice, and community › Scanning probe microscopy*\n\n*Initially written Sep 29, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/tip-enhanced-raman-spectroscopy", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/tip-enhanced-raman-spectroscopy.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/tip-enhanced-raman-spectroscopy. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy](https://www.edgepedia.org/tip-enhanced-raman-spectroscopy)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/tip-enhanced-raman-spectroscopy](https://www.edgepedia.org/tip-enhanced-raman-spectroscopy). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/tip-enhanced-raman-spectroscopy. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, or TERS, is a scanning probe technique demonstrated in 2000 that merges the chemical specificity of Raman with the spatial resolution of AFM or STM." }