Nanoparticle clusters light up in SERS.

Seeing double: nanoparticle clusters (dimers, trimers, etc.) have long been pursued as enhancers in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy research. A recent report presents an elegant approach for the high-yielding fabrication of dimers of silver nanospheres from nanocubes by controlled chemical etching. These nanoparticle dimers are capable of strongly enhancing Raman signals of surface adsorbates.