The control of the Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) rate between molecules has recently received a lot of interest, opening opportunities in the development of sources of incoherent illumination, photovoltaics and biosensing applications. The design of nanostructured materials with appropriate electromagnetic properties, particularly with the engineered local density of electromagnetic states (LDOS), allows the enhancement of the spontaneous emission rate of emitters in their vicinity. However, the question of the influence of the LDOS on the energy transfer rate between emitters remains controversial. To date, several contradicting theoretical and experimental studies involving emitters on metallic surfaces and plasmonic metamaterials as well as in optical cavities and plasmonic antennas have been reported. In this work we study the influence of the LDOS on the energy transfer between donor-acceptor pairs placed inside the anisotropic metamaterial. The study of the emission kinetics of both the donor and the acceptor allow us to experimentally compare FRET efficiencies in different electromagnetic environments including dielectric and plasmonic substrates as well as metamaterials.

Date Published: 26 July 2016
PDF: 1 pages
Proc. SPIE 9884, Nanophotonics VI, 98841D (26 July 2016); doi: 10.1117/12.2227701

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9884:
Nanophotonics VI
David L. Andrews; Jean-Michel Nunzi; Andreas Ostendorf, Editor(s)