The influence of the photonic-crystal structure of synthetic opal on the fluorescence spectrum of the laser dye Rhodamine 6G is investigated. Suppression of fluorescence in the stop-band region and a blue shift of the spectrum are observed.
The photonic dispersion, the group-velocity dispersion, the effective mass, refractive index, and the spectral distribution of the density of photonic states near the edge of the photonic stop band are numerically calculated in the one-dimensional model for photonic crystals based on synthetic opals. The fluorescence spectra of rhodamine 6G and 2,5-bis(2-benzoxazolyl)hydroquinone molecules infiltrated into a synthetic opal are measured. For both substances, it is observed that the spontaneous emission intensity in the range of the photonic stop band is appreciably suppressed. A blue shift of the fluorescence spectrum of rhodamine 6G molecules is revealed. Secondary emission of synthetic opals infiltrated with colloidal silver is observed in the Stokes range under excitation of opals by radiation at λ = 400 nm. The spectrum of the secondary emission is located in the range 450–590 nm, which contains the stop band and intervals near its edges.
The luminescence and laser characteristics of a synthetic opal matrix filled with organic dyes are studied upon excitation by nanosecond laser pulses. The appearance of stimulated emission in a partially ordered scattering medium is investigated. It is shown that if the luminescence spectrum of a dye (oxazine-17) is located far outside the photonic bandgap of the opal matrix, stimulated emission along a preferential direction in the (111) plane is observed when pumping exceeds a threshold even without an external optical cavity. The stimulated emission spectrum is considerably narrower than the luminescence spectrum and consists of several narrow lines located within the dye luminescence band. If the luminescence spectrum of a dye (rhodamine 6G) overlaps with the photonic bandgap of the opal matrix, a different picture is observed. The loss of radiation in the matrix leads to the red shift of the luminescence spectrum, while the stimulated emission as in the case of oxazine-17 lies is observed within the luminescence band.