Journal of Optics B Quantum and Semiclassical Optics
Spontaneous emission through heavy photon bands
Vassilios Yannopapas
Abstract
We examine the spontaneous emission spectrum of a Λ-type three-level atom embedded in a coupled-resonator optical waveguide. Owing to the high degree of confinement of light within the resonators, the waveguide modes can be obtained in the framework of an electromagnetic tight-binding theory. The corresponding density of modes exhibits singularities at the band edges leading to interesting features in the spontaneous emission spectrum such as dark lines and narrow emission peaks. The position and the shape of these features depend strongly on the geometry and refractive index of the waveguide.