Fluorescence Studies of the Interplay between Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence and Graphene-Induced Quenching.

Fluorescence microscopy and spectroscopy were applied for studying the optical properties of a hybrid nanostructure, in which we combine plasmon-induced metal enhanced fluorescence with energy transfer to epitaxial graphene. Covering the layer of silver islands with a monolayer graphene, while turning on the efficient energy transfer from emitters, only moderately affects the enhancement of fluorescence attributed to the plasmon resonance in metallic nanostructures-as evidenced by the analysis of fluorescence decays. The results show that it is feasible to combine the properties of graphene with metal-enhanced fluorescence. The importance of the layer thickness of the emitters is also pointed out.