This perspective commemorates 50 years of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) by highlighting the paradigm shift toward rationally designed semiconductor substrates, enabling ultrasensitive and molecule-selective detection. Several enhancement strategies have been developed to effectively modulate the electronic band structure and charge transfer (CT) processes, such as energy level customization, amorphization, quasi-metallization, and morphology control, achieving high enhancement factors with good selectivity and stability. Moreover, semiconductor SERS substrates show broad prospects in the fields of bio-sensing and cancer diagnosis. Nevertheless, standardization gaps in substrate reproducibility and data comparability hinder its widespread adoption. Resolving these challenges through multi-stakeholder collaboration is essential to bridge the technology transfer gap and establish SERS as a core platform for next-generation inspection.

SiC-based composites are widely used as electromagnetic wave absorbers due to their excellent dielectric properties. However, the constraints associated with structural design and the intricacies of the preparation process hinder their broader application. In this study, novel mullite anti-gyroid/SiC gyroid metastructures are designed to integrate the mechanical and electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption properties of composite materials. Mullite anti-gyroid/SiC gyroid composites are fabricated utilizing a combination of digital light processing (DLP) three-dimensional (3D) printing and precursor infiltration and pyrolysis (PIP) processes. Through the modulation of structural units, the electromagnetic parameters can be effectively regulated, thus improving the impedance matching characteristics of the composites. The structural composites show outstanding EMW absorption properties, with a minimum reflection loss of −54 dB at a thickness of 1.9 mm and an effective absorption bandwidth of 3.20 GHz at a thickness of 2.2 mm. Furthermore, the PIP process significantly enhances the mechanical properties of the composites; compared with those of the mullite/SiC ceramics, the flexural strength of the composites is improved by 3.69–5.85 times (13.28±1.15 MPa vs. (49.05±1.07)–(77.78±3.72) MPa), and the compressive strength is improved by 4.59–13.58 times (8.55±0.90 MPa vs. (39.02±1.63)–(116.13±2.58) MPa). This approach offers a novel and effective method for fabricating structural composites with an expanded range of higher electromagnetic wave absorption properties and improved mechanical properties.