We investigate spontaneous emission from excitons beyond the point source dipole approximation and show how the symmetry of the exciton wave function plays a crucial role. We find that for spherically symmetric wave functions, the Purcell effect is independent of the wave function size and therefore is given exactly by the dipole approximation theory. This surprising result is a spontaneous emi...

Atoms and molecules are too small to act as efficient antennas for their own emission wavelengths. By providing an external optical antenna, the balance can be shifted; spontaneous emission could become faster than stimulated emission, which is handicapped by practically achievable pump intensities. In our experiments, InGaAsP nanorods emitting at ∼ 200 THz optical frequency show a spontaneous ...

The total spontaneous emission rate of a quantum emitter in the presence of an infinite MoS2 monolayer is enhanced by several orders of magnitude, compared to its free-space value, due to the excitation of surface exciton polariton modes and lossy modes. The spectral and distance dependence of the spontaneous emission rate are analyzed and the lossy surface wave, surface exciton polariton mode ...

The control of spontaneous emission has attracted much attention for many years. For atoms in free space, atomic coherence and quantum interference are the basic phenomena for controlling spontaneous emission [1– 3]; these have potential applications to lasing without inversion [4–10]. Zhu, Scully, and co-workers have studied the quenching of spontaneous emission using an open V-type atom [11],...

We have observed, in metamaterial with hyperbolic dispersion (an array of silver nanowires in alumina membrane), a sixfold reduction of the emission lifetime of dye deposited onto the metamaterial's surface. This serves as evidence of an anomalously high density of photonic states in hyperbolic metamaterials, demonstrates the feasibility of an earlier-predicted single-photon gun, and paves the ...