Intensity enhancement of the vibrational spectrum of oxygen when attached to a platinum nanocluster

Detecting single molecules is a technical and scientific challenge and requires to increase the number of molecules or their cross section to a radiation field in order to have a detectable signal. We demonstrate for a single molecule of oxygen that, by attaching the molecule to a nanocluster, the molecule signature spectrum is transferred to the larger complex (molecule cluster). Therefore, the detection can focus on the complex, which can have a much larger cross section, rather than on the small molecule. This is based on the concept of signature transfer, which can be used to detect in the cluster several other properties of the attached molecule.