Portable fiber sensors based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Two portable molecular sensing systems based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) have been experimentally demonstrated using either a tip-coated multimode fiber (TCMMF) or a liquid core photonic crystal fiber (LCPCF) as the SERS probe. With Rhodamine 6G as a test molecule, the TCMMF-portable SERS system achieved 2-3 times better sensitivity than direct sampling (focusing the laser light directly into the sample without the fiber probe), and a highly sensitive LCPCF-portable SERS system reached a sensitivity up to 59 times that of direct sampling, comparable to the sensitivity enhancement achieved using fiber probes in the bulky Renishaw system. These fiber SERS probes integrated with a portable Raman spectrometer provide a promising scheme for a compact and flexible molecular sensing system with high sensitivity and portability.