Polariton-Assisted Resonance Energy Transfer Beyond Resonant Dipole-Dipole Interaction: A Transition Current Density Approach

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive theory for resonance energy transfer that incorporates complex material structures and electromagnetic fields, extending beyond traditional dipole approximations to better understand light-matter interactions.

Contribution

It develops a unified transition current density framework within macroscopic quantum electrodynamics to describe energy transfer between arbitrarily structured materials.

Findings

The theory generalizes existing models like transition density cube and plasmon-coupled transfer.

It accurately describes polariton-assisted energy transfer beyond simple dipole interactions.

The approach provides new insights into light-matter interactions in complex materials.

Abstract

Using electric dipoles to describe light-matter interactions between two entities is a conventional approximation in physics, chemistry, and material sciences. However, the lack of material structures makes the approximation inadequate when the size of an entity is comparable to the spatial extent of electromagnetic fields or the distance between two entities. In this study, we develop a unified theory of radiative and non-radiative resonance energy transfer based on transition current density in a theoretical framework of macroscopic quantum electrodynamics. The proposed theory allows us to describe polariton-assisted resonance energy transfer between two entities with arbitrary material structures in spatially dependent vacuum electric fields. To demonstrate the generality of the proposed theory, we rigorously prove that our theory can cover the main results of the transition density cube method and the plasmon-coupled resonance energy transfer. We believe that this study opens a promising direction for exploring light-matter interactions beyond the scope of electric dipoles and provides new insights into material physics.