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Updated: May 13, 2026

Fabrication of Gate-tunable Graphene Devices for Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Studies with Coulomb Impurities
Published on: July 24, 2015
Universal distance-scaling of nonradiative energy transfer to graphene
L Gaudreau1, K J Tielrooij, G E D K Prawiroatmodjo
1ICFO - The Institute of Photonic Sciences, Mediterranean Technology Park, Av. Carl Friedrich Gauss 3, 08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain.
Abstract:
The near-field interaction between fluorescent emitters and graphene exhibits rich physics associated with local dipole-induced electromagnetic fields that are strongly enhanced due to the unique properties of graphene. Here, we measure emitter lifetimes as a function of emitter-graphene distance d, and find agreement with a universal scaling law, governed by the fine-structure constant. The observed energy transfer rate is in agreement with a 1/d(4) dependence that is characteristic of two-dimensional lossy media. The emitter decay rate is enhanced 90 times (energy transfer efficiency of ~99%) with respect to the decay in vacuum at distances d ≈ 5 nm. This high energy transfer rate is mainly due to the two-dimensionality and gapless character of the monatomic carbon layer. Graphene is thus shown to be an extraordinary energy sink, holding great potential for photodetection, energy harvesting, and nanophotonics.
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