• DOI:10.1038/s41467-019-13230-1
• Corpus ID: 86860297

Plasmon-enhanced stimulated Raman scattering microscopy with single-molecule detection sensitivity

@article{Zong2019PlasmonenhancedSR,
  title={Plasmon-enhanced stimulated Raman scattering microscopy with single-molecule detection sensitivity},
  author={Cheng Zong and Ranjith Premasiri and Haonan Lin and Yimin Huang and Chi Zhang and Chen Yang and Bin Ren and Lawrence D. Ziegler and Ji‐Xin Cheng},
  journal={Nature Communications},
  year={2019},
  volume={10}
}

• Cheng Zong, R. Premasiri, +6 authors Ji‐Xin Cheng
• Published 12 March 2019
• Chemistry, Physics
• Nature Communications

Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy allows for high-speed label-free chemical imaging of biomedical systems. The imaging sensitivity of SRS microscopy is limited to ~10 mM for endogenous biomolecules. Electronic pre-resonant SRS allows detection of sub-micromolar chromophores. However, label-free SRS detection of single biomolecules having extremely small Raman cross-sections (~10−30 cm2 sr−1) remains unreachable. Here, we demonstrate plasmon-enhanced stimulated Raman scattering (PESRS) microscopy with single-molecule detection sensitivity. Incorporating pico-Joule laser excitation, background subtraction, and a denoising algorithm, we obtain robust single-pixel SRS spectra exhibiting single-molecule events, verified by using two isotopologues of adenine and further confirmed by digital blinking and bleaching in the temporal domain. To demonstrate the capability of PESRS for biological applications, we utilize PESRS to map adenine released from bacteria due to starvation stress. PESRS microscopy holds the promise for ultrasensitive detection and rapid mapping of molecular events in chemical and biomedical systems. Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy enables label-free chemical imaging at high speed, but has been limited by low sensitivity. Here, the authors demonstrate plasmon-enhanced SRS microscopy and achieve single molecule detection sensitivity.