Effect Of Metallic Substrates And Cavities On Emission Kinetics Of Dye-Doped Polymeric Films

We have studied emission kinetics in dye-doped polymeric films (HITC:PMMA), deposited on top of glass and silver and embedded in Fabry-Perot cavities (metal-insulator-metal waveguides). For highly doped films on glass, we observed strong concentration quenching, as evidenced by a dramatic shortening of the emission kinetics, consistent with our previous studies. However, for the same dye-doped films on top of silver, slower emission kinetics were observed despite the high decay rates of individual dye molecules near the metallic surface. The concentration quenching rates in Fabry-Perot cavities were nearly identical to those of HITC:PMMA films deposited on top of silver. These findings are explained within a theoretical model for the inhibition of Forster energy transfer near a metallic surface. Furthermore, the emission kinetics of the dye-doped films on top of silver were approximately single exponential-consistent with the strong coupling of excited molecules with propagating surface plasmons. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America