Optical microcavity

About: Optical microcavity is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2599 publications have been published within this topic receiving 72125 citations. The topic is also known as: optical microcavities.

Non-Markovian decay and lasing condition in an optical microcavity coupled to a structured reservoir

Abstract: The decay dynamics of the classical electromagnetic field in a leaky optical resonator supporting a single mode coupled to a structured continuum of modes (reservoir) is theoretically investigated, and the issue of threshold condition for lasing in presence of an inverted medium is comprehensively addressed. Specific analytical results are given for a single-mode microcavity resonantly coupled to a coupled resonator optical waveguide, which supports a band of continuous modes acting as decay channels. For weak coupling, the usual exponential Weisskopf-Wigner (Markovian) decay of the field in the bare resonator is found, and the threshold for lasing increases linearly with the coupling strength. As the coupling between the microcavity and the structured reservoir increases, the field decay in the passive cavity shows nonexponential features, and correspondingly the threshold for lasing ceases to increase, reaching a maximum and then starting to decrease as the coupling strength is further increased. A singular behavior for the 'laser phase transition', which is a clear signature of strong non-Markovian dynamics, is found at critical values of the coupling between the microcavity and the reservoir.

Semiconductor microcavity polaritons

Abstract: The optical properties of wide-gap semiconductor films on metal substrates were investigated experimentally by infrared spectroscopy, Raman scattering, and femtosecond spectroscopy techniques as well as theoretically in the framework of linear crystal optics. The optical spectra of such planar structures (microresonators) were shown to bear information on electromagnetic excitations of both the surface and the volume of the structure. The optical spectra are determined by the interaction of all dipole-active excitations of the component materials with the electromagnetic modes of the microresonator, which in turn are determined by the permittivities of each component material, microcavity (microresonator) thickness, and the experimental conditions.

Optical microcavities using highly luminescent films of semiconductor nanocrystals

Abstract: Colloidally grown CdSe nanocrystals with epitaxial ZnS shells show highly efficient, size-tunable luminescence. We report the incorporation of films of these core-shell nanocrystals into wavelength-scale, high-Q, planar microcavities. Under optical excitation, we find that emission from the nanocrystals couples to the discrete optical modes of the microcavity. The broad free-space emission spectrum of the nanocrystals is modified by the presence of the microcavity, giving a series of sharp emission lines with wavelengths determined by the cavity dimension. Our experiments demonstrate that microcavities with semiconductor emitters can be conveniently fabricated using spin-coating techniques. We find that, at room temperature, the microcavity emission spectrum is independent of excitation intensity for excitation densities up to approximately one electron–hole pair per nanocrystal.