Interference without interference: Directional properties of spontaneous emission

P. L. Knight, L. Allen

Mostafa Sahrai, Reza Hemmati, H. Tajalli +1 more

We study the effects of quantum interference from the spontaneous emission and the incoherent pumping field on the population trapping and the spontaneous emission spectrum. It is shown that in a four-level atomic system with both interferences, the population will be trapped in degenerate two upper levels. We find that the spontaneous emission properties of the atom can be significantly modified by the interference of incoherent pumping field.

Hermann Haken, R. Hübner, Karl Zeile

Marc M. Dignam, David P. Fussell, Michael J. Steel +2 more

We examine theoretically the spontaneous emission rate in optical microstructures with cavity resonances that overlap in both position and frequency. Using projection techniques, we show that the spontaneous emission in such structures can be accurately described by the direct emission and quantum path interference of emission into a few discrete resonant modes, even though the exact infinite-dimensional problem involves a coupling to the continuum of radiation states. Moreover, we obtain an efficient numerical time-domain method for determining the spontaneous emission rate that incorporates these effects, including the suppression of spontaneous emission into some modes.

Shuangyuan Xie, Yaping Yang, Hong Chen +1 more

Spontaneous emission from two two-level atoms within an anisotropic photonic crystal is investigated when direct dipole-dipole interaction is taken into account. The radiation properties of the present two atoms system are similar to that of a V-type three-level atom embedded in an anisotropic photonic crystal. The direct dipole-dipole interaction can enhance or depress the spontaneous emission depending on the relative position of the upper levels from the band edge of the photonic crystals. Owing to quantum interference and the dipole-dipole interaction, the spontaneous emission spectra are complicated non-Lorentzian shapes and depend strongly on the relative position of the upper levels from the bandgap and the initial state of the system.

R. Bonifacio