The methods and apparatus 300 disclosed herein concern Raman spectroscopy
using metal coated nanocrystalline porous silicon substrates 240, 340. In
certain embodiments of the invention, porous silicon substrates 110, 210 may
be formed by anodic etching in dilute hydrofluoric acid 150. A thin coating
of a Raman active metal, such as gold or silver, may be coated onto the porous
silicon 110, 210 by cathodic electromigration or any known technique. The
metal-coated substrate 240, 340 provides an extensive, metal rich environment
for SERS, SERRS, hyper-Raman and/or CARS Raman spectroscopy. In certain embodiments
of the invention, metal nanoparticles may be added to the metal-coated substrate
240, 340 to further enhance the Raman signals. Raman spectroscopy may be
used to detect, identify and/or quantify a wide variety of analytes, using the
disclosed methods and apparatus 300.