A fiber-optic system was developed for exciting and collecting surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signals generated from a sensing plate tip having silver-coated microparticles deposited on a glass support. Various fiber parameters, such as fiber type, fiber-substrate geometry, and other experimental parameters, were investigated to obtain the optimum conditions for the SERS fiber-optic device. In addition, analytical figures of merit relevant to the performance of the SERS fiber-optic sensor, such as SERS spectral characteristics, reproducibility, linear dynamic range, and limit of detection, were also investigated.
