Patent ID: 8358408

Claim:
An apparatus for performing Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS), said apparatus comprising: a substrate; a reflective layer that is separate from and disposed above the substrate; a plurality of tapered nanowires disposed above the reflective layer, each of the plurality of tapered nanowires having a tapered end directed away from the reflective layer, wherein the reflective layer is positioned between the tapered ends of the plurality of tapered nanowires and the substrate; and a plurality of nanoparticles disposed on a plurality of the nanowires, wherein each of the plurality of tapered nanowires is to be illuminated with light of a pump wavelength from a light source and reflected from the reflective layer to cause Raman excitation light to be emitted from the tapered end of the nanowire to interact with the nanoparticles and produce enhanced Raman scattered light from molecules located in close proximity to the nanoparticles.