Raman Scattering at Plasmonic Junctions Shorted by Conductive Molecular Bridges

Intensity spikes in Raman scattering, accompanied by switching between line spectra and band spectra, can be assigned to shorting the junction plasmon through molecular conductive bridges. This is demonstrated through Raman trajectories recorded at a plasmonic junction formed by a gold AFM tip in contact with a silver surface coated either with biphenyl-4,4′-dithiol or biphenyl-4-thiol. The fluctuations are absent in the monothiol. In effect, the making and breaking of chemical bonds is tracked.