Pittcon Awards 2010: Richard P. van Duyne

Richard P. van Duyne, the Charles E. & Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University, accepted the 2010 Bomem-Michelson Award from the Coblentz Society. The award honors a scientist who has advanced techniques of vibrational, molecular, Raman, or electronic microscopy. Van Duyne is widely known for his 1977 discovery of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). His desire to understand SERS at a fundamental level resulted in the invention of nanosphere lithography to fabricate structurally and optically well-defined SERS-active surfaces. That in turn led to the development of ultrasensitive nanosensors based on localized surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy and molecular plasmonics. His more recent work has focused on single-molecule SERS. Other research interests include ultra-high-vacuum surface science, structure and function of biomolecules on surfaces, and application of SERS to problems in art conservation science.