Spontaneous emission of organic molecules and semiconductor nanocrystals in a photonic crystal

Photonic crystals based on artificial colloidal silica crystals (opals) exh ibit pronounced stop bands for electromagnetic wave propagation and the cor responding modification of the photon density of stales in the visible rang e. Doping of these structures with dye molecules and semiconductor nanopart icles (quantum dots) provides a possibility to examine the predictions of t he inhibited spontaneous emission in photonic band-gap materials. First exp eriments are reviewed in which pronounced modification of spontaneous emiss ion spectra and noticeable changes in decay kinetics were observed, (C) 200 0 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.