Abstract: A surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) assembly comprises a radiant energy source for directing a beam of radiant energy toward a target microbase. The target microbase includes a substrate, a roughened surface layer contiguously disposed on the substrate, and a sample-adsorption surface layer contiguously disposed on the first roughened layer. The sample-adsorption surface layer is effective to enhance a scattered Raman signal intensity for adsorbates adjacent the sample-adsorption surface layer by a factor of greater than 10.sup.6 times. The sample-adsorption surface includes a plurality of submicron needles having a length of at least 3500 angstroms and a width of at least 500 angstroms. A method for manufacturing the target microbase comprises the steps of contiguously depositing on a substrate the first roughened layer having a deposited thickness of at least 1700 angstroms.