We study cooperative effects in energy transfer (ET) from an ensemble of donors to an acceptor near a plasmonic nanostructure. We demonstrate that, in the cooperative regime, ET takes place from plasmonic super-radiant and subradiant states rather than from individual donors leading to a significant increase in ET efficiency. The cooperative amplification of the ET relies on the large coupling of superradiant states to external fields and on the slow decay rate of subradiant states. We show that superradiant and subradiant ET mechanisms are efficient in different energy domains and, therefore, can be utilized independently. We present numerical results demonstrating the amplification effect for a layer of donors and an acceptor on a spherical plasmonic nanoparticle.

• Received 21 August 2013
• Revised 8 November 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.88.245427