Energy transfer across a metal film mediated by surface plasmon polaritons

Coupled surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are shown to provide effective transfer of excitation energy from donor molecules to acceptor molecules on opposite sides of metal films up to 120 nanometers thick. This variant of radiative transfer should allow directional control over the flow of excitation energy with the use of suitably designed metallic nanostructures, with SPPs mediating transfer over length scales of 10(-7) to 10(-4) meters. In the emerging field of nanophotonics, such a prospect could allow subwavelength-scale manipulation of light and provide an interface to the outside world.