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Physical Review A

Theory on the effect of optical dephasing on spontaneous emission in microcavities with dispersive dielectric media

Yong Lee, Masamichi Yamanishi

Published Sep 1, 1995• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present a simple theory on the effect of optical dephasing on the spontaneous emission (SE) rate in a microcavity containing (absorbing) dispersive dielectric media based on a photon Green's-function formalism in which the reservoir damping of medium polarizations is included in a phenomenological way. The theory yields the well-known result that the SE rate in free space is modified by the real part of the refractive index at the transition frequency of an atom in a bulk dielectric. On the other hand, it turns out that the degree of the alteration of the SE rate in a high-Q microcavity with dispersive media is affected not only by the real part of the refractive index but also by the imaginary part of the refractive index that is associated with the dephasing of the photon field due to the reservoir damping, i.e., the destruction of self-interference of the photon field.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.52.2312

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Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics•Aug 29, 2005•0 citations
We present a simple theory on the effect of optical dephasing on the spontaneous emission (SE) rate in a microcavity containing (absorbing) dispersive dielectric media based on a photon Green's-function formalism in which the reservoir damping of medium polarizations is included in a phenomenological way. The theory yields the well-known result that the SE rate in free space is modified by the real part of the refractive index at the transition frequency of an atom in a bulk dielectric. On the other hand, it turns out that the degree of the alteration of the SE rate in a high-Q microcavity with dispersive media is affected not only by the real part of the refractive index but also by the imaginary part of the refractive index that is associated with the dephasing of the photon field due to the reservoir damping, i.e., the destruction of self-interference of the photon field.
This chapter presents simple theoretical models which take into account the effect of dephasing of the vacuum fields on the spontaneous emission in a microcavity. This would be necessary to evaluate the limit of the capability of microcavity-based solid-state optical devices. The dephasing of the quantized fields, i.e., the vacuum fields, which is our main concern, results from the energy exchange between fields and medium polarizations interacting with phonon reservoirs, that is, from the dispersion. A symmetric structure of the system allows us to use the one-way time-evolution of field b, in order to obtain a motion equation of the field, which is in general derived from a round-trip time-evolution of the field. The alteration of the spontaneous emission in a microcavity can be viewed as a manifestation of the self-interference of the quantized fields, which are vacuum fields.
We have calculated the effect of material absorption on the rate of spontaneous emission by an embedded atom using a macroscopic Green-function approach and a microscopic Hamiltonian method that includes reservoir damping. When local field effects are neglected, the free-space emission rate is modified by the real part of the refractive index at the transition frequency of the embedded atom. Local field effects are introduced via a local field correction factor. This modification of the spontaneous emission rate generalizes a well-known result for transparent media and is of crucial importance in assessing the degree of inhibition of spontaneous emission for frequencies close to the resonances of the dielectric.
The formulas of the quantum electrodynamics have been applied to calculate the spontaneous emission rate of excited atom in dielectric microcavity. The results exhibit damping oscillating patterns which depend sensitively on the scaling parameter and geometrical structure. Compared with the case that the emitting atom is immersed in dielectric, the spontaneous emission rate is depressed obviously and the center or the mean value of the oscillations is intimately related to the real refractive index of the local position where the atom is. In order to explain this phenomenon, we utilize the closed-orbit theory to deal with the classical trajectories of the emitted photon, and extract the corresponding frequencies of the oscillations by Fourier transform. It is found that the oscillations can be represented in terms of the closed-orbits of the photon motion constrained in dielectric microcavity, thus providing another perspective on the spontaneous emission of atom sandwiched by dielectric slabs.
The formulas of the quantum electrodynamics have been applied to calculate the spontaneous emission rate of excited atom in dielectric microcavity.The results exhibit damping oscillating patterns which depend sensitively on the scaling parameter and geometrical structure.Compared with the case that the emitting atom is immersed in dielectric,the spontaneous emission rate is depressed obviously and the center or the mean value of the oscillations is intimately related to the real refractive index of the local position where the atom is.In order to explain this phenomenon,we utilize the closed-orbit theory to deal with the classical trajectories of the emitted photon,and extract the corresponding frequencies of the oscillations by Fourier transform.It is found that the oscillations can be represented in terms of the closed-orbits of the photon motion constrained in dielectric microcavity,thus providing another perspective on the spontaneous emission of atom sandwiched by dielectric slabs.更多还原
We consider the spontaneous emission in an absorbing medium by calculating the quantum flow of energy from an emitting atom. For this purpose, we extend the analysis by Power and Thirunamachandran of quantized Maxwell fields in the vicinity of an atom in the free space to a situation where the emitter is in a dielectric medium. We represent the quantum flow in terms of the non-equal time commutators involving electric and magnetic fields, as well as the local displacement field. The commutators are calculated applying a previously developed microscopic theory of quantization of radiation in dielectrics. Consequently, we derive from first principles the rate of spontaneous emission in an absorbing medium containing local field factors and other refractive contributions. The results support the previous introduction of the (virtual cavity) local field correction by Barnett et al on a phenomenological basis, as well as our previous approach in which the spontaneous emission is considered as a resonance energy transfer to the far-zone atoms. A distinctive feature of the present formalism is that it deals with the spontaneous emission directly by calculating the quantum flow from the emitting atom. Therefore, the method is free from divergences appearing in other approaches analysing the spontaneous decay in absorbing media.
Summary form only given. Over the last three decades of the 20 th century many experiments have demonstrated that the rate of spontaneous emission for an emitter is determined by its electromagnetic surrounding. This phenomenon has been usually studied for atoms or molecules placed in the vicinity of mirrors or in optical resonators. Furthermore, it is also well-known that the fluorescence lifetime of an emitter changes after being embedded in dielectric media where aside from a change in the refractive index, it experiences the local fields in the dielectric. For a spherical medium larger than the order of a wavelength it is known that the coupling to Mie modes of this dielectric resonator has a large influence on the emission rate of an emitter inside. However, when the medium becomes comparable or smaller than a wavelength one can no longer speak of resonator modes. Here we report on an experiment where we have studied the variation of the spontaneous emission rate as the dielectric medium surrounding an emitter is made smaller and smaller down to a few nanometers.