Broadband Raman scattering enhancement with reduced heat generation in a dielectric-metal hybrid nanocavity.

The strongly localized electric field achieved in metallic nanoparticles (NPs) and nanostructures are commonly employed to realize surface-enhanced Raman scattering. However, the heat originating from the Ohmic loss of metals may lead to the damage of the analyzed molecules, which severely limits the practical applications of pure-metallic nanostructures. Here, we propose a dielectric-metallic hybrid nanocavity placing silicon (Si) NPs onto a gold (Au) film to realize broadband Raman scattering enhancement with significantly reduced heat generation.