Control of Förster energy transfer in vicinity of metallic surfaces and hyperbolic metamaterials

Abstract

Optical cavities, plasmonic structures, photonic band crystals, interfaces, as well as, generally speaking, any photonic media with homogeneous or spatially inhomogeneous dielectric permittivity (including metamaterials) have local densities of photonic states, which are different from that in vacuum. These modified density of states environments are known to control both the rate and angular distribution of spontaneous emission. In the present study, we ask the question whether the proximity to metallic and metamaterial surfaces can affect other physical phenomena of fundamental and practical importance. We show that the same substrates and the same nonlocal dielectric environments that boost spontaneous emission, also inhibit Förster energy transfer between donor and acceptor molecules doped into a thin polymeric film. This finding correlates with the fact that in dielectric media, the rate of spontaneous emission is proportional to the index of refraction n, while the rate of the donor-acceptor energy transfer (in solid solutions with random distribution of acceptors) is proportional to n^-1.5. This heuristic correspondence suggests that other classical and quantum phenomena, which in regular dielectric media depend on n, can also be controlled with custom-tailored metamaterials, plasmonic structures, and cavities.

arXiv commentFaraday Discussions, FD 178, 2015, Advance Article

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• Switchable and unidirectional plasmonic beacons in hyperbolic 2D materials
• Direct imaging of the energy transfer enhancement between two dipoles in a photonic cavity
• Enhancement of Resonant Energy Transfer Due to Evanescent-wave from the Metal
• Collective Förster energy transfer modified by the planar metallic mirror
• Long-range Single Molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer Between Alexa Dyes in Zero-Mode Waveguides
• Excitation Energy Transfer under Strong Laser Drive
• Theory of hyperbolic stratified nanostructures for surface enhanced Raman scattering