SEMICONDUCTOR MICROCAVITIES FOR SPONTANEOUS EMISSION CONTROL

The confinement of the electromagnetic field in cavities with dimensio ns of the order of the wavelength modifies the characteristics of spon taneous emission of a dipole placed in the cavity. Planar semiconducto r microcavities, which confine the field in only one dimension, can be readily fabricated by epitaxial crystal growth techniques. These stru ctures display novel radiative phenomena that are of interest in basic physics and point to the possibility of developing novel optoelectron ic devices.