Inhibited spontaneous emission of quantum dots observed in a 3D photonic band gap

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that quantum dots embedded in silicon 3D photonic band gap crystals exhibit significantly inhibited spontaneous emission within the band gap, confirming theoretical predictions and exploring factors affecting emission rates.

Contribution

The paper provides experimental evidence of emission inhibition in 3D photonic band gap crystals and analyzes the effects of various physical factors on emission rates.

Findings

Decay rates are inhibited by a factor of 10 within the band gap.

Emission is enhanced up to 2 times outside the band gap.

Theoretical agreement confirms the control of spontaneous emission using photonic crystals.

Abstract

We present time-resolved emission experiments of semiconductor quantum dots in silicon 3D inverse-woodpile photonic band gap crystals. A systematic study is made of crystals with a range of pore radii to tune the band gap relative to the emission frequency. The decay rates averaged over all dipole orientations are inhibited by a factor of 10 in the photonic band gap and enhanced up to 2? outside the gap, in agreement with theory. We discuss the effects of spatial inhomogeneity, nonradiative decay, and transition dipole orientations on the observed inhibition in the band gap.