Label-free molecular imaging by using Raman scattering

Abstract

Raman spectroscopy has been used as a powerful technique to investigate molecular structures and their conditions and environments due to its capability of detecting molecular vibrations in a sample. In the recent developements in optical microscopy, Raman scattering has been utilized to simultaneouly image and analyze the chemical components in a sample, which allows us to obtain molecular information in the sample without any labeling. Coherent-anti Stokes Raman scattering and surface-enhanced Raman scattering provide higher sensitivity in Raman microscopy and boost the capability of Raman imaging for various biological applications.