Nanoparticle over mirror (NPoM) cavities have been a source of extreme electromagnetic field confinement in sub-nm gaps, leading to extraordinary performance for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. However, the performance of the overall NPoM cavity containing a large number of nanoparticles over metal has always been a point of concern. An NPoM cavity fabricated by trapping nanoparticles with Bessel beam illumination from a fiber optic negative axicon achieved five- and two-fold enhancements for excitation wavelengths of 785 and 532 nm, respectively, while it was three- and 1.75-fold in the conventional cavity. We investigated the photodimerization mechanism of 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) using SERS spectroscopy within an NPoM cavity. The research is focused on the laser-induced conversion or chemical enhancement (CE) of 4-ATP to 4,4′-dimercaptoazobenzene (DMAB), a process for understanding reaction dynamics at the nanoscale. Control experiments were performed by varying excitation laser power and integration time, revealing a higher optical-driven conversion of 4-ATP to DMAB at a higher laser power. Additional control experiments focused on the impact of oxidation on the Ag film substrate. It was found that an unoxidized Ag film is |
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