Plasmonic Polarization Rotation in SERS Spectroscopy

6 pags., 5 figs. ; Surface-enhanced Raman optical activity (SEROA) has been extensively investigated due to its ability to directly probe stereochemistry and molecular structure. However, most works have focused on the Raman optical activity (ROA) effect arising from the chirality of the molecules on isotropic surfaces. Here, we propose a strategy for achieving a similar effect: i.e., a surface-enhanced Raman polarization rotation effect arising from the coupling of optically inactive molecules with the chiral plasmonic response of metasurfaces. This effect is due to the optically active response of metallic nanostructures and their interaction with molecules, which could extend the ROA potential to inactive molecules and be used to enhance the sensibility performances of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. More importantly, this technique does not suffer from the heating issue present in traditional plasmonic-enhanced ROA techniques, as it does not rely on the chirality of the molecules. ; This work was supported by the French RENATECH network (French national nanofabrication platform). R.G. and P.G.G. acknowledge financial support from the project MERLINMICROPLASTIQUE (agreement No. 17/1212947B). S.A.M. acknowledges financial support from the DFG (MA 4699/7-1), the EPSRC EP/W017075/1), and the Lee-Lucas Chair in Physics. A.F. and P.G.G. acknowledge the European Union (NextGeneration EU), through the MUR-PNRR SAMOTHRACE (ECS00000022) and PE0000023-NQSTI projects. ; Peer reviewed