Atomic point contact significantly enhances Raman scattering 2 New research shows that allowing the atomic point of a tip-enhanced Raman spectrometer to touch the surface of a sample increases sensitivity. Researchers have discovered a huge enhancement of Raman scattering mediated by the formation of an atomic point contact between a plasmonic silver tip and a Si(111)-7×7 reconstructed surface. This state-of-the-art low-temperature tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) allows scientists to conduct atomic-scale vibrational spectroscopy. The developers suggest this technique could pave the way for exploring atomic-scale light-matter interactions, leading to a new discipline in light science and technology. According to researchers, the rapid advancement of nanoscience and nanotechnology now requires atomic-scale optical spectroscopy to characterise its atomic-scale structures and defects in detail. TERS has demonstrated the exceptional sensitivity required to observe vibrational structures on the atomic scale. However, it relies on electromagnetic enhancement in plasmonic nanogaps, limiting the measurable samples. In a new paper, an international team headed by Takashi Kumagai at the Institute for Molecular Science, Japan, showed that atomic point contact (APC) formation between a plasmonic tip and the surface of a bulk Si sample can lead to a dramatic enhancement of Raman scattering and consequently the phonons of the reconstructed Si(111)-7 × 7 surface can be detected.