Photonics North (PN)

Lasing inside microcavities without resorting to the concept of density of states: The effects of vacuum field fluctuations

Tracy Robertson, Serge Gauvin

Published Jun 1, 2017• 2 citations

Abstract

It has long been established that inside microcavities the resulting electromagnetic (optical) confinement might lead to strong enhancement (Purcell effect) or inhibition (Kleppner effect) of spontaneous emission. In both cases, the formulation is based on the concept of density of optical modes. However, and without resorting to this concept, there is an alternative point of view entirely based on the modulation of the vacuum field fluctuations. Consequently, a different interpretation of lasing, which does not involve the concept of density of modes, is conceivable.

DOI: 10.1109/pn.2017.8090588

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