Applications of strong interactions between photons and molecules to analytical sciences

Spectroscopic measurements and applications to analytical sciences utilizing strong interactions between photons and molecules will be described. In particular, this report demonstrates high-sensitivity analysis of chemical species in solution through laser multiphoton ionization, and selective detection and characterization of the molecules located at solid surfaces and phase boundaries by using the method of second harmonic generation. Furthermore, new spectroscopic methods and sensitivity improvements utilizing the resonance of incident light photons with surface plasmons emerging on the surfaces of gold nanoparticles and nanostructures are presented. In addition, applications of surface plasmon resonance to spatio-selective plating to microscopic sites and to the field of nanobiotechnology are described, with special focusing on controlling biomolecules. 2009