Toward room-temperature optical manipulation of small molecules

Room-temperature optical manipulation of small molecules is a challenging issue in the field of material science. To increase optical force for a single molecule trapping, it has been recognized that resonant excitation of molecules should be controlled under the light illumination. Strongly interacting molecules with solid surfaces at electrified interfaces show the exotic behavior of electronic excitation by localized surface plasmon. In this review, we emphases that surface-enhanced Raman scattering can be used to evaluate the resonant excitation of target molecules at interfaces. Under such excitation, the diffusion of small molecules can be controlled by the optical force generated by the intensity gradient of a highly localized electric field.