Förster resonance energy transfer
Photochemical energy transfer mechanism / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET), fluorescence resonance energy transfer, resonance energy transfer (RET) or electronic energy transfer (EET) is a mechanism describing energy transfer between two light-sensitive molecules (chromophores).[1] A donor chromophore, initially in its electronic excited state, may transfer energy to an acceptor chromophore through nonradiative dipole–dipole coupling.[2] The efficiency of this energy transfer is inversely proportional to the sixth power of the distance between donor and acceptor, making FRET extremely sensitive to small changes in distance.[3][4]
Measurements of FRET efficiency can be used to determine if two fluorophores are within a certain distance of each other.[5] Such measurements are used as a research tool in fields including biology and chemistry.
FRET is analogous to near-field communication, in that the radius of interaction is much smaller than the wavelength of light emitted. In the near-field region, the excited chromophore emits a virtual photon that is instantly absorbed by a receiving chromophore. These virtual photons are undetectable, since their existence violates the conservation of energy and momentum, and hence FRET is known as a radiationless mechanism. Quantum electrodynamical calculations have been used to determine that radiationless (FRET) and radiative energy transfer are the short- and long-range asymptotes of a single unified mechanism.[6][7][8]