Enhancement of Raman scattering signals from gaseous medium near the surface of a holographic aluminum diffraction grating

The possibility of applying surface-enhanced Raman scattering (RS) for amplification of RS intensity in gaseous media is investigated. A more than sixfold enhancement of the RS signal is detected experimentally from the main atmospheric air components during interaction of continuous-wave laser radiation with a holographic aluminum diffraction grating. The averaged value of the RS signals’ amplification factor in the near-surface 30-nm-thick layer at the boundary between the diffraction grating and gaseous medium amounted to ~3 × 10 3 .