Spontaneous emission in microcavities with distributed mirrors

• Published in: IEEE journal of quantum electronics 1995-02, Vol.31 (2), p.399-410
• Main Authors: Ram, R.J., Babid, D.I., York, Y.A., Bowers, J.E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Atomic measurements; Boundary conditions; Circuit properties; Distributed Bragg reflectors; Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Frequency; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Lasers; Microcavities; Microwave circuits, microwave integrated circuits, microwave transmission lines, submillimeter wave circuits; Mirrors; Optical resonators; Optics; Optoelectronic devices; Physics; Reflectivity; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Semiconductor lasers; laser diodes; Spontaneous emission; Surface resistance
• ISSN: 0018-9197; 1558-1713
• DOI: 10.1109/3.348071

This paper presents an analytic approach to spontaneous emission in resonators with distributed Bragg reflectors (DBR's). The foundation of our analysis is the hard mirror (or penetration depth) approximation. Which we extend to radiation with both angular and frequency distributions. This has allowed us to derive approximate analytic expressions for the divergence angle of the spontaneous emission, the spontaneous emission rate and the spontaneous emission coupling factor in planar DBR resonators. These analytic tools provide insight into the considerable limitations to controlling spontaneous emission with DBR boundaries. We also explore cavity controlled spontaneous emission with the classical tools of intracavity field profiles, the induced EMF method and millimeter wave experiments-all of which are applied to distributed mirror boundaries.< >