Impact of a charged neighboring particle on Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)

Abstract

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) is an important physical phenomenon which demands precise control over the FRET rate for its wide range of applications. Hence, enhancing the FRET rate using different techniques has been extensively studied in the literature. Research indicates that introducing additional particles to a system consisting of a donor-acceptor pair can change the behaviour of FRET in the system. One such technique is to utilize the collective oscillations of the surface electrons of a neighboring electricallyneutral metal nanoparticle (MNP). However, the perceived changes on the FRET rate between the donor and the acceptor, when the MNP carries excess electrical charges are yet unknown. In this paper, we study these changes by introducing a charged MNP, in the proximity of an excited donor and a ground state acceptor. We deploy the classical Green's tensor to express the FRET rate in the system. We consider an effective dielectric response for the MNP, which accounts for the extraneous surface charge effects. We analyze the electrical potential at the acceptor position due to the changed dipole moment of the donor molecule as a result of the electric field induced at the donor position, and obtain the FRET rate of the system. This model considers arbitrary locations and orientations of the two molecular dipole moments with regard to the position of the spherical MNP. We present the enhancement of the FRET rate, predominantly caused by both the surface plasmon excitations and the extraneous surface electrical charges carried by the neighboring MNP. We obtain the results by varying the separation distance between the molecules and the MNP, the transition frequency of the donor-acceptor pair and the size of the metallic sphere. Specifically, we demonstrate that a donor-acceptor pair placed in the vicinity of an electrically-charged Silver MNP exhibits a remarkable improvement in the FRET rate. Furthermore, the aggregate FRET enhancement is determined by other characteristics such as the location of the donor, transition frequency, separation distances and the radius of the MNP. In essence, these findings reveal an approach to realize the enhanced FRET rate in a larger span in a more controlled manner that is desirable in many FRET-based applications including spectroscopic measurements.

Estimation of the relative contributions to the electronic energy transfer rates based on Förster theory: The case of C-phycocyanin chromophores

“…Although it is currently possible to quantitatively estimate the EET rate constant, it is not necessarily clear which physical and chemical factors contribute to it and to which extent. Thus, despite being quantitatively accurate, it remains difficult to extract a precise microscopic picture suitable, for instance, to unravel at a molecular level, the experimental investigation aimed at controlling the energy transfer dynamics of a Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) for a coupled pair of chromophores embedded in a tunable sub-wavelength Fabry-Pérot resonator [77] or for enhancing the FRET rate in several FRET-based applications [78]. Regarding the specific context of photosynthesis, a variety of EET theoretical formulations have been applied to study this process in pigments, and this is the case of C-PCs [79][80][81][82][83].…”

Effect of logarithmic perturbations in ohmic like spectral densities in dynamics of electronic excitation using variational polaron transformation approach

“…A given SDF encodes all the information of the magnitude of the interaction strength as well as the time scales of the interactions. If the influence of the environment is strong compared to the electronic coupling between system sites, excitations are localized and the resultant transfer is incoherent, the dynamics of which can be fully analysed by Förster theory [15,23,24]. On the other hand, a weak system-bath coupling parameter leads to a Redfield or Lindblad type quantum master equation [25] and ensuing energy transfer falls under the coherent regime.…”

Directional energy transport in strongly coupled chiral quantum emitter plasmonic nanostructures

“…Recent studies have shown that strongly coupled systems can be utilized for nonradiative energy transport with the use of excitons in plasmonic systems [20]. Unlike the short distances supported by Förster and Dexter resonance energy transfer methods [21] that operates on dipole-dipole interactions, strong coupling mediated exciton energy transfer has demonstrated to transport energy to much larger distances. It has been shown that these distances can reach up to the extent of the polariton modes [22] and also the energy exchange can occur between spatially separated molecules [23].…”