Nanophotonic boost of intermolecular energy transfer

TL;DR

This paper introduces a nanophotonic system that significantly enhances long-range energy transfer between distant light emitters, surpassing classical limits and enabling practical on-chip applications.

Contribution

It presents a hybrid nanoantenna-waveguide system that boosts energy transfer efficiency beyond traditional methods, especially at large donor-acceptor separations.

Findings

Energy transfer enhancement up to 10^8 times compared to vacuum

Effective long-range transfer beyond the classical Forster radius

Potential for practical on-chip nanophotonic devices

Abstract

We propose a scheme for efficient long-range energy transfer between two distant light emitters separated by more than one wavelength of light, i.e. much beyond the classical Forster radius. A hybrid nanoantenna-waveguide system mediates the transmission of energy, showing enhancements up to 10^8 as compared to vacuum. Our model shows how energy transfer in nanostructured media can be boosted, beyond the simple donor Purcell enhancement, and in particular for large donor-acceptor separations. The scheme we propose connects realistic emitters and could lead to practical on-chip implementations.