Figure 1.
a) Schematic of the PIERS technique to probe vacancy dynamics: irradiation with UV light creates photo‐induced vacancy states which interact with AuNPs and the Raman reporter (mercaptobenzoic acid (MBA) as a surface monolayer) enhancing scattering for Raman detection. b) Raman spectra showing the strongest AuNP‐MBA bands at 1065 and 1575 cm−1 on different metal‐oxide films before (red dashed line, SERS) and after (blue solid line, PIERS) UV irradiation. Note the increased intensity of the MBA Raman peaks after oxygen vacancy generation.