Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy: a Brief Perspective -- Electromagnetic Mechanism of SERS -- Electromagnetic Theory of SERS -- Coupled Plasmonic Plasmon/Photonic Resonance Effects in SERS -- Estimating SERS Properties of Silver-Particle Aggregates through Generalized Mie Theory -- Studying SERS from Metal Nanoparticles and Nanoparticles Aggregates with Continuum Models -- SERS From Transition Metals and Excited by Ultraviolet Light -- Electronic Mechanisms of SERS -- Two-Photon Excited Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering -- Applications of the Enhancement of Resonance Raman Scattering and Fluorescence by Strongly Coupled Metallic Nanostructures -- Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (TERS) -- Tip-Enhanced Near-Field Raman Scattering: Fundamentals and New Aspects for Molecular Nanoanalysis/Identification -- Single-Molecule SERS Spectroscopy -- Temporal Fluctuations in Single-Molecule SERS Spectra -- Single-Molecule Surface-Enhanced Resonance Raman Spectroscopy of the Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein EGFP -- Surface-Enhanced Vibrational Spectroelectrochemistry: Electric-Field Effects on Redox and Redox-Coupled Processes of Heme Proteins -- Nanosensors Based on SERS for Applications in Living Cells -- Biomolecule Sensing with Adaptive Plasmonic Nanostructures -- Glucose Sensing with Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy -- Quantitative Surface-Enhanced Resonance Raman Spectroscopy for Analysis -- Rapid Analysis of Microbiological Systems Using SERS -- Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering for Biomedical Diagnostics and Molecular Imaging -- Ultrasensitive Immunoassays Based on Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering by Immunogold Labels -- Detecting Chemical Agents and Their Hydrolysis Products in Water.

Almost 30 years after the first reports on surface-enhanced Raman signals, the phenomenon of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is now well established. Yet, explaining the enhancement of a spectroscopic signal by fouteen orders of magnitude continues to attract the attention of physicists and chemists alike. And, at the same time and rapidly growing, SERS is becoming a very useful spectroscopic tool with exciting applications in many fields. SERS gained particular interest after single-molecule Raman spectroscopy had been demonstrated. This bookl summarizes and discusses present theoretical approaches that explain the phenomenon of SERS and reports on new and exciting experiments and applications of the fascinating spectroscopic effect.