Abstract

We consider the dynamics of the spontaneous emission of a two-level atom embedded into a periodic layered dielectric structure. When the resonant atomic frequency lies within the photon-density-of-states gap (DOS) of width Γ, the atom spontaneous emission becomes fully inhibited for times tΓ ≥ 1. We discuss its enhancing by tuning the atomic resonance with a one mode microcavity. In the λ/4 shifted distributed feedback microcavities, which possess a δ function in the DOS, the spontaneous emission has damped Rabi oscillations and the damping depends on r and the gap depth.

© 1992 Optical Society of America