Nano-imaging through tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy: Stepping beyond the classical limits

The spatial resolution in optical imaging is restricted by so-called diffraction limit, which prevents it to be better than about half of the wavelength of the probing light. Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS), which is based on the SPP-induced plasmonic enhancement and confinement of light near a metallic nanostructure, can however, overcome this barrier and produce optical images far beyond the diffraction limit. Here in this article, the basic phenomenon involved in TERS is reviewed, and the high spatial resolution achieved in optical imaging through this technique is discussed. Further, it is shown that when TERS is combined with some other physical phenomena, the spatial resolution can be dramatically improved. Particularly, by including tip-applied extremely localized pressure in TERS process, it has been demonstrated that a spatial resolution as high as 4 nm could be achieved. Illustration of local deformation in an isolated carbon nanotube due to the pressure applied through the apex of a nano-tip. By [GRAPHICS] sensing this local deformation by means of Raman shift in TERS, the sample can be imaged with extremely high spatial resolution. (C) 2010 by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim