Energy transfer in peridinin-chlorophyll-protein-metallic nanoparticle hybrid nanostructure: Effect of spatial arrangement

We theoretically investigate dynamics of excitation in a hybrid nanostructure comprising a photosynthetic complex peridinin-chlorophyll-protein (PCP) coupled to a gold spherical nanoparticle. Our model includes the analytical description of radiative and non-radiative relaxation channels of the chlorophylls in PCP, as well as the change of energy transfer rate within the PCP due to the presence of metal scatterer. We show that by measuring the intensity of fluorescence from selectively excited chlorophyll molecules in the PCP complex, elementary geometric properties of the system can be deduced.