Radiating dipoles in photonic crystals

Summary form only given. Photonic crystals (PCs) are fabricated as periodic dielectric arrays that employ a combination of Mie scattering from individual elements of the array and Bragg scattering from the periodic lattice to induce a band structure for photon propagation that is, in many ways, analogous to electronic band structure in a semiconductor. Accordingly, the photonic density of states (DOS) in a PC may be drastically modified from that of free space, and can therefore fundamentally alter the nature of radiative emission from active materials embedded in such a crystal. We consider the radiative dynamics of a dipole antenna embedded in a PC. The antenna is modelled as an initially excited harmonic oscillator coupled to a discrete, non-Markovian bath of harmonic oscillators that represent the electromagnetic field modes. Realistic coupling constants based on the natural (Bloch) modes of the photonic crystal are derived.