Spontaneous emission

About: Spontaneous emission is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 12855 publications have been published within this topic receiving 323684 citations.

Shrinking light to allow forbidden transitions on the atomic scale

Abstract: The diversity of light-matter interactions accessible to a system is limited by the small size of an atom relative to the wavelength of the light it emits, as well as by the small value of the fine-structure constant. We developed a general theory of light-matter interactions with two-dimensional systems supporting plasmons. These plasmons effectively make the fine-structure constant larger and bridge the size gap between atom and light. This theory reveals that conventionally forbidden light-matter interactions--such as extremely high-order multipolar transitions, two-plasmon spontaneous emission, and singlet-triplet phosphorescence processes--can occur on very short time scales comparable to those of conventionally fast transitions. Our findings may lead to new platforms for spectroscopy, sensing, and broadband light generation, a potential testing ground for quantum electrodynamics (QED) in the ultrastrong coupling regime, and the ability to take advantage of the full electronic spectrum of an emitter.

Cavity-Induced Atom Cooling in the Strong Coupling Regime

Abstract: We investigate the possibility of all optical trapping and cooling a single atom at the antinodes of a high Q optical cavity mode to which the atom is strongly coupled. For properly chosen parameters the dynamics of the cavity field introduces a novel Sisyphus type cooling mechanism yielding final temperatures much below the Doppler limit and allowing for long trapping times, avoiding the problems induced by spontaneous emission. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}

Characterization of semiconductor laser gain media by the segmented contact method

Abstract: In this paper, we describe methods for analysis of edge-emitted amplified spontaneous emission spectra measured as a function of the pumped stripe length. We show that both the modal gain and the unamplified spontaneous emission spectra can be extracted from the data, and we describe a means of calibrating the spontaneous emission in real units, without requiring the carrier populations to be described by Fermi functions. The gain and emission spectra can be determined for transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarizations and by summing the recombination currents for each polarization the total radiative current can be measured. This enables the overall internal radiative quantum efficiency to be calculated. Once the calibration factor is known the internal stimulated recombination rate at the facet can also be estimated. The experiment can be configured to give a measurement of the passive modal absorption of the gain medium. The internal optical mode loss can be determined from the long-wavelength region of the gain spectrum or the modal absorption spectrum. In summary, we show that measurements of amplified spontaneous emission spectra provide a full characterization of the gain medium.

Guided and defect modes in periodic dielectric waveguides

Abstract: The nature of guided modes and defect modes in periodic dielectric waveguides is investigated computationally for model systems in two dimensions. It is shown that defect states that exist within the band gap of guided modes can be excited to form tightly localized high-Q resonances.