Effect of gain medium and graphene on the resonance energy transfer between two molecules positioned near a plasmonic multilayer nanoparticle

Abstract

In this study, we investigate the transfer of energy from a donor molecule to an acceptor molecule nearby a spherical multilayer nanoparticle consisting of a core surrounded by two shells (core@shell@shell nanoparticle), with focus on the role of graphene and gain medium in the resonance energy transfer between molecules. We obtain analytical expressions for the interaction energy between the dipoles and the energy enhancement factor in a hybrid plasmonic nanoshell-molecular system consisting of a pair of molecules positioned near a plasmonic three-layer nanoparticle. Owing to the more flexible tunability of multishell nanoparticles, the resonance energy transfer can be enhanced and tuned from IR-visible-UV regions by controlling the size of the nanosphere core or shells. In addition to the effect of the gain medium which enhances the plasmonic resonance in order of magnitude, the impact of a graphene-coated three-layer nanosphere on the energy transfer is studied by taking into account the role of dipolar, quadrupolar, octupolar, hexadecapolar, and triakontadipolar plasmonic modes.