Fundamental understanding of chemistry and physical properties at the nanoscale enables the rational design of interface-based systems. Surface interactions underlie numerous technologies ranging from catalysis to organic thin films to biological systems. Since surface environments are especially prone to heterogeneity, it becomes crucial to characterize these systems with spatial resolution sufficient to localize individual active sites or defects. Spectroscopy presents as a powerful means to understand these interactions, but typical light-based techniques lack sufficient spatial resolution. This review describes the growing number of applications for the nanoscale spectroscopic technique, tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS), with a focus on developments in areas that involve measurements in new environmental conditions, such as liquid, electrochemical, and ultrahigh vacuum. The expansion into unique environments enables the ability to spectroscopically define chemistry at the spatial limit. Through the confinement and enhancement of light at the apex of a plasmonic scanning probe microscopy tip, TERS is able to yield vibrational fingerprint information of molecules and materials with nanoscale resolution, providing insight into highly localized chemical effects.

中文翻译：

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EXPRESS：尖端增强拉曼光谱的扩展前沿

对纳米级化学和物理特性的基本理解使基于界面的系统的合理设计成为可能。表面相互作用是众多技术的基础，从催化到有机薄膜再到生物系统。由于表面环境特别容易出现异质性，因此以足以定位单个活性位点或缺陷的空间分辨率来表征这些系统变得至关重要。光谱学是理解这些相互作用的有力手段，但典型的基于光的技术缺乏足够的空间分辨率。这篇综述描述了纳米级光谱技术、尖端增强拉曼光谱 (TERS) 的越来越多的应用，重点是涉及在新环境条件下测量的领域的发展，例如液体、电化学和超高真空。扩展到独特的环境使能够在空间极限上以光谱学方式定义化学。通过在等离子体扫描探针显微镜尖端的光的限制和增强，TERS 能够产生具有纳米级分辨率的分子和材料的振动指纹信息，从而深入了解高度局部化的化学效应。