Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) with a donor–acceptor system adsorbed on silver or gold nanoisland films

We observed Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) with a covalently linked donor–acceptor pair D–A consisting of two naphthalene groups acting as the donors and a benzofurazan group acting as the acceptor and adsorbed onto Ag or Au nanoisland films. The use of metal nanoisland films, which caused a strong enhancement of the Raman signal, permitted description of the adsorption mechanism onto the two metals. The intense fluorescence response of molecular adsorbates and the different behavior of the antenna on Ag and Au nanoislands are partly explained in terms of the radiating plasmon model.