Universal distance-scaling of nonradiative energy transfer to graphene

6 pags, 4 figsThe near-field interaction between fluorescent emitters and graphene exhibits rich physics associated with local dipole-induced electromagnetic fields that are strongly enhanced due to the unique properties of graphene. Here, we measure emitter lifetimes as a function of emitter-graphene distance d, and find agreement with a universal scaling law, governed by the fine-structure constant. The observed energy transfer rate is in agreement with a 1/d 4 dependence that is characteristic of two-dimensional lossy media. The emitter decay rate is enhanced 90 times (energy transfer efficiency of ∼99%) with respect to the decay in vacuum at distances d ≈ 5 nm. This high energy transfer rate is mainly due to the two-dimensionality and gapless character of the monatomic carbon layer. Graphene is thus shown to be an extraordinary energy sink, holding great potential for photodetection, energy harvesting, and nanophotonics. © 2013 American Chemical Society.This work has been supported in part by the Fundacicio Cellex Barcelona, the ERC Starting Grant 307806 (CarbonLight), the ERC Career integration Grant 294056 (GRANOP), the Spanish MICINN (MAT2010-14885 and Consolider Nano-Light.es), and the European Commission (FP7-ICT-2009-4-248909-LIMA and FP7-ICT-2009-4-248855-N4E). L.G. acknowledges financial support from Marie-Curie International Fellowship COFUND and ICFOnest program. K.J.T. acknowledges financial support from NWO Rubicon grant. G.E.D.K.P. acknowledges support from a Leonardo da Vinci subsidy