Inhibition And Enhancement Of Spontaneous Emission Using Photonic Band Gap Structures

We discuss experimental results demonstrating the inhibition and enhancement of spontaneous emission of dye molecules embedded in a nanophotonic structure. This is achieved in our all-solid self-assembled photonic crystals consisting of dye-doped polystyrene spheres. Our samples exhibit well-resolved photonic stop gap with high reflectivity and photonic strength. Laser induced emission experiments reveal an inhibition of ~ 70% of emission intensity in the photonic stop gap wavelength range. Also, we discuss the enhancement of spontaneous emission intensity near the blue side of the stop gap. Our results have implications in photonic devices, such as, low-threshold lasers and efficient lighting devices.