Laser assisted resonance energy transfer

At distances beyond wavefunction overlap, and typically running up to 100 Angstrom, the migration of electronic excitation between donor and acceptor species is generally understood to approximate well to the resonance energy transfer theory developed by Forster. Here we demonstrate that the energy transfer rate can be increased by propagation of an auxiliary laser beam through the sample. Results indicate that, under optimum conditions, auxiliary beam intensities of 10(10) W cm(-2) can produce an increase in the energy migration rate by as much as 15%. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.