Statistical properties of spontaneous emission near a rough surface

TL;DR

This paper investigates how surface roughness affects the spontaneous emission lifetime of atoms or molecules near a surface, emphasizing the role of surface mode scattering and statistical correlations.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of the statistical properties of decay rates near rough surfaces, including the impact of surface mode scattering and correlation lengths.

Findings

Surface roughness significantly influences decay rates.

Surface mode scattering alters emission lifetime.

Correlation length relates to decay rate variance.

Abstract

We study the lifetime of the excited state of an atom or molecule near a plane surface with a given random surface roughness. In particular, we discuss the impact of the scattering of surface modes within the rough surface. Our study is completed by considering the lateral correlation length of the decay rate and the variance discussing its relation to the C0 correlation.