# Resonant Energy Transfer Under the Influence of the Evanescent Field from the Metal

## TL;DR

This paper develops a quantum model to study how evanescent fields from metals influence excitation energy transfer in molecular systems, revealing potential for tuning energy transfer rates via material geometry.

## Contribution

It introduces a density matrix framework to analyze EET affected by evanescent fields, expanding understanding of quantum dynamics near metallic surfaces.

## Key findings

- Evanescent fields can enhance EET rates.
- Energy transfer can be tuned by geometry and distance.
- The model extends to quantum heat engine applications.

## Abstract

We present a quantum framework based on a density matrix of a dimer system to investigate the quantum dynamics of excitation energy transfer (EET) in the presence of the evanescent field from the metal and the phonon bath. Due to the spatial correlation of the electric field in the vicinity of the metal, the spectral density of the evanescent field is similar to that of a shared phonon bath. However, the EET dynamics under the influence of the evanescent field is an open and a new problem. Here we use a thin metallic film to investigate the effect of the evanescent field on the excitation energy transfer in a dimer system based on a density matrix approach. Our results indicate that a thin metallic film enhances the energy transfer rate at the expense of absorbing energy during the process. Since the spectral density of the evanescent field is affected by the geometry of the medium and the distance of a dimer system from the medium, our results demonstrate the possibility to tune EET based on material geometry and distances. Our model also serves as an expansion to quantum heat engine model and provides a framework to investigate the EET in light harvesting molecular networks under the influence of the evanescent field.