Spontaneous emission rate alteration in optical waveguide structures

Optical microcavities hold technological promise for constructing efficient, high-speed, semiconductor lasers. Achieving the desired effects depends on the degree to which spontaneous emission may be altered by the presence of the cavity. The radiating modes of an oscillating electric dipole placed between two planar metallic mirrors (one-dimensional confinement) and placed in an optical-wire structure (two-dimensional confinement) are discussed. The analysis is carried out using a mode-counting method. The authors show that this method is simpler and more intuitive than traditional classical and quantum electrodynamical calculations. Using the results of the analysis, it is found that an optical wire provides much larger spontaneous-emission-rate alteration than a planar mirror structure