Md. Barnes et al., ENHANCED FLUORESCENCE YIELDS THROUGH CAVITY QUANTUM-ELECTRODYNAMIC EFFECTS IN MICRODROPLETS, Journal of the Optical Society of America. B, Optical physics, 11(7), 1994, pp. 1297-1304
Measurements of the integrated fluorescence yield per molecule of Rhod
amine 6G (R6G) in 4-16-mum-diameter levitated microdroplets show a siz
e dependence that is attributed to a net increase in the fluorescence
decay rate for the smaller (4-5-mum) droplets. The average fluorescenc
e yield in 4-mum droplets (for which we have previously observed emiss
ion-rate enhancement) is approximately a factor of 2 larger than the y
ield measured for larger droplets for which emission-rate enhancement
does not occur. These results suggest that there is little emission-ra
te inhibition in this system, even though the fluorescence emission sp
ectrum overlaps several cavity resonances. A mechanism based on spectr
al diffusion is postulated for the apparent absence of cavity-inhibite
d emission and is illustrated by Monte Carlo calculations using time-d
ependent line-shape functions.