Plasmon-Assisted Förster Resonance Energy Transfer in Hybrid Organic/Inorganic Nanomaterials.

Förster resonance energy transfer is a physical mechanism that describes the energy transfer between two light-sensitive objects through nonradiative dipole-dipole interactions at small length scales. Here, we investigate the Förster resonance energy transfer between organic molecules and adjacent semiconductor quantum dots with the influence of a plasmon field. The plasmon field, generated by a plasmonic nanocavity through engineering the coupling between metallic nanoparticles and a metal surface, significantly enhances the energy transfer rate between organic and inorganic materials. Organic materials provide an excellent opportunity to efficiently absorb photons in the near infrared or ultraviolet frequencies, and the semiconductor quantum dots are excellent candidates for optoelectronic and nanophotonic device applications in the visible frequency. Plasmonic nanocavities thus bridge the energy gaps between organic and inorganic nanomaterials. We discuss ways to control the light-matter interactions at the nanoscale and subsequently elucidate the interactions between organic and inorganic emitters and optimally designed plasmonic nanoplatforms, gearing towards highly efficient light harvesting devices.