Raman spectroscopy is a very useful tool for analysing compounds, however its ability to detect low concentrations of a substance are very limited. Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) overcomes that issue and is reported to have achieved single molecule detection. Its main shortcoming is the reproducibility of SERS spectra. The variation in signal strength prevents SERS from being usable as a quantitative analytical technique. This variability have been investigated in this work and key factors in improving reproducibility have been considered. Pterins, such as xanthopterin are studied in this paper. Pterins are a group of biological compounds that are found in nature in colour pigmentation and in mammal’s metabolic pathways. Moreover, they have been identified in abnormal concentrations in the urine of people suffering from certain kinds of cancer. The potential for pterin’s use as a cancer diagnostic points to the importance of SERS detection for pterins.

Date Published: 22 February 2013
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 8595, Colloidal Nanocrystals for Biomedical Applications VIII, 85950Y (22 February 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2003696

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8595:
Colloidal Nanocrystals for Biomedical Applications VIII
Wolfgang J. Parak; Marek Osinski; Kenji Yamamoto, Editor(s)