Abstract
Adiabatic compression plays a fundamental role in the realization of localized enhanced electromagnetic field hot spots, it provides the possibility to focus at nanoscale optical excitation. It differs from the well-known lightning rod effect since it is based on the lossless propagation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) up to a nano-sized metal tip where the energy density is largely enhanced. Here we discuss two important applications of adiabatic compression: Raman and hot electron spectroscopy at nanometric resolution. The underlying phenomena are the conversion of SPPs into photons or hot electrons. New scanning probe spectroscopy techniques along with experimental results are discussed. We foresee that these techniques will play a key role in relating the functional and structural properties of matter at the nanoscale.