Gold-Etched Silver Nanowire Endoscopy: Toward a Widely Accessible Platform for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering-Based Analysis in Living Cells.

Recently, our group introduced the use of silver nanowires (AgNWs) as novel non-invasive endoscopic probes for detecting intracellular Raman signals. This method, although innovative and promising, relies exclusively on the plasmonic waveguiding effect for signal enhancement. It, therefore, requires sophisticated operational tools and protocols, drastically limiting its applicability. Herein, an advanced strategy is offered to significantly enhance the performance of these endoscopic probes, making this approach widely accessible and versatile for cellular studies. By uniformly forming gold structures on the smooth AgNW surface