Abstract
By exploiting the extremely large effective cross sections ( ) available from surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), we achieved the first observation of single molecule Raman scattering. Measured spectra of a single crystal violet molecule in aqueous colloidal silver solution using one second collection time and about nonresonant near-infrared excitation show a clear “fingerprint” of its Raman features between 700 and . Spectra observed in a time sequence for an average of 0.6 dye molecule in the probed volume exhibited the expected Poisson distribution for actually measuring 0, 1, 2, or 3 molecules.
- Received 6 November 1996
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.1667
©1997 American Physical Society