Bi-analyte SERS with isotopically edited dyes

Isotopically substituted rhodamine dyes provide ideal probes for the study of single-molecule surface enhanced Raman scattering (SM-SERS) events through multiple-analyte techniques. Isotopic editing should, in principle, provide probes that have identical chemical properties (and surface chemistries); while exhibiting at the same time distinct Raman features which enable us to identify single-molecule SERS events. We present here a specific example of two-analyte SM-SERS based on the isotopic substitution of a methyl ester rhodamine dye. The dyes are carefully characterized (in both standard and SERS conditions) to confirm experimentally their similar chemical properties. We then demonstrate their utility for bi-analyte SERS (BiASERS) experiments and, as an example, highlight the transition from a single, to a few, to many molecules in the statistics of SM-SERS signals.