Perspectives for spatially resolved molecular spectroscopy - Raman on the nanometer scale

Nano-objects and cellular components are of great interest in biological sciences. Tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) is a tool that allows adddressing of such features for structural investigations without the need of further labelling. After brief introduction to the basic aspects of the technique an overview of present application of TERS is given. For this contribution we picked TERS experiments with emphasis on its application in life sciences. Based on these experiments, the future perspective of this analytical method and its limitations is discussed. Tip-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (TERS) enables to unravel the molecular composition of structures on the nanometer scale. A wide range of applications like semi-conductor testing, label free single molecule investigations or cell biology is the topic of current research.