Abstract

Spontaneous emission from an excited atomic state reflects the properties of the surrounding vacuum field. By placing the atom near a metallic surface or in a cavity, one can modify the spectral density of the vacuum modes coupled to it and either enhance¹ or inhibit² spontaneous emission. Large enhancement³ or inhibition effects have been obtained recently in microwave experiments involving either Rydberg atoms⁴ or a trapped electron⁵ radiating in cavities whose sizes were of the order of one-tenth of a millimeter to a centimeter.

© 1987 Optical Society of America