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Molecular fluorescence decay is significantly modified when the emitting molecule is located near a
plasmonic structure. When the lateral sizes of such structures are reduced to nanometer-scale
cross-sections, they can be used to accurately control and amplify the emission rate.
In this contribution, we extend the Green dyadic method, to quantitatively investigate both
radiative and non-radiative decay channels experienced by a single fluorescent molecule
confined in an adjustable dielectric-metal nanogap.
The technique produces data in excellent agreement with current experimental work.
Recently, a team from the PND Network has developed
a versatile scheme
well-suited for describing and predicting new photophysical
mechanisms triggered by the vicinity of complex plasmonic
devices. When applied to an adjustable plasmonic
nanogap geometry, this new framework successfully reproduces
experimental signals. Consequently, this new
numerical tool can be used to support current experimental
work developed in the field of molecular plasmonics.
In particular, it can be applied to any geometrical configuration,
to the accurate computation of the dissipation
losses, and to the research of strategies to minimize them.
Finally, by introducing an appropriate model for the ex-
citation rate, the method can be
extended to the description of optical relaxation of single
molecules located in an STM nanogap.
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