Magneto-optical control of Forster energy transfer

We introduce a general framework to study dipole-dipole energy transfer between an emitter and an absorber in a nanostructured environment. The theory allows us to address Forster resonant energy transfer (FRET) between a donor and an acceptor in the presence of a nanoparticle with an anisotropic electromagnetic response. In the particular case of a magneto-optical anisotropy, we compute the generalized FRET rate and discuss the orders of magnitude. The distance dependence, the FRET efficiency, and the sensitivity to the orientation of the transition dipoles orientation differ from standard FRET and can be controlled using the static magnetic field as an external parameter.