Martin Fleischmann of cold fusion fame is the founder of the Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) reaction.
The enhanced Raman signal of pyridine adsorbed on roughened electrochemical silver electrode, observed by Fleischmann et. al in 1974. This research is considered to be the first observation of the SERS effect. The effect was observed as the researchers were trying to implement Raman spectroscopy as a possible means to observe molecules on surfaces at a monolayer coverage. Fleischmann et al., in their original paper, interpreted the amplified Raman signal of pyridine as an outcome of increased surface area caused by the roughening of silver electrodes. However, there were many unanswered questions regarding this simple hypothesis. Later on in 1977, two independent research groups, Jeanmarie and Van Duyne and Albrecht and Creighton documented that the observed Raman enhancement could not be accounted for by increased surface area, instead other mechanisms exist. Since then several enhancement mechanisms were proposed in the early days of SERS, however only two mechanisms are now broadly accepted, i.e, Electromagnetic (EM) theory and Chemical Enhancement (CE) theory.
