Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) is a highly promising tool for sensitive characterization and super-resolution chemical imaging of various materials. The performance of TERS is generally determined by the probe geometry, such as the diameter of the tip apex, surface roughness, etc. In this regard, the fabrication of metallic probes with a sharp apex is extremely important for TERS experiments. Electrochemical etching is a commonly used technique for fabricating those metallic probes. However, the yield of the electrochemical etching method is largely dependent on the skills and abilities of the individual researcher, which makes TERS experiments difficult. Here, we report an automated electrochemical etching system for the efficient fabrication of TERS probes. With this system, gold probes with a clean surface and a radius of curvature of 85 nm can be obtained with high reproducibility. The fabricated metallic probe is used to detect the brilliant cresyl blue (BCB) molecules on the gold film, and it is confirmed that the enhancement factor is about 3,399.

尖端增强拉曼光谱 (TERS) 是一种非常有前途的工具，可用于各种材料的灵敏表征和超分辨率化学成像。TERS 的性能一般由探针的几何形状决定，如尖端直径、表面粗糙度等。在这方面，制造具有尖锐尖端的金属探针对于 TERS 实验极为重要。电化学蚀刻是制造这些金属探针的常用技术。然而，电化学蚀刻方法的产量在很大程度上取决于个体研究人员的技能和能力，这使得 TERS 实验变得困难。在这里，我们报告了一种用于有效制造 TERS 探针的自动电化学蚀刻系统。有了这个系统，可以获得具有清洁表面和 85 nm 曲率半径的金探针，并且具有很高的重现性。制作的金属探针用于检测金膜上的亮甲酚蓝（BCB）分子，确认增强因子约为3,399。