title: Coupling Emitters and Silver Nanowires to Achieve Long-Range Plasmon-Mediated Fluorescence Energy Transfer.
abstract: The development of quantum plasmonic circuitry requires efficient coupling between quantum emitters and plasmonic waveguides. A major experimental challenge is to simultaneously maximize the surface plasmon propagation length, the coupling efficiency into the plasmonic mode, and the Purcell factor. Addressing this challenge is also the key to enabling long-range energy transfer between quantum nanoemitters. Here, we use a dual-beam scanning confocal microscope to carefully investigate the interactions between fluorescent nanoparticles and surface plasmons on single-crystalline silver nanowires. By exciting the fluorescent nanoparticles via nanowire surface plasmons, we maximize the light-matter interactions and reach coupling efficiencies up to 44% together with 24× lifetime reduction and 4.1 μm propagation lengths. This improved optical performance enables the demonstration of long-range plasmon-mediated fluorescence energy transfer between two nanoparticles separated by micrometer distance. Our results provide guidelines toward practical realizations of efficient long-range fluorescence energy transfer for integrated plasmonics and quantum nano-optics.
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Aix-Marseille Université, Centrale Marseille, Institut Fresnel , UMR 7249, 13013 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de Torres
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Aix-Marseille Université, Centrale Marseille, Institut Fresnel , UMR 7249, 13013 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ferrand
authors.affiliation: Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, CNRS, Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne (ICB) , UMR 6303, 21078 Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Gérard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Colas des Francs
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Aix-Marseille Université, Centrale Marseille, Institut Fresnel , UMR 7249, 13013 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wenger
keywords: FRET; LDOS; fluorescence energy transfer; plasmonics; silver nanowire; surface plasmon coupled emission