Fluorescence Lifetime of Emitters with Broad Homogeneous Linewidths Modified in Opal Photonic Crystals

Abstract

We have investigated the dynamics of spontaneous emission from dye molecules embedded in opal photonic crystals. Fluorescence lifetimes of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) dye were measured as a function of both optical frequency and crystal lattice parameter of the polystyrene opals. Due to the broad homogeneous line width of the dye, the observed fluorescence lifetime varies only slightly with the frequency within the dye emission spectrum. The lifetime however does change as a function of the crystal lattice parameter. Our observations agree with theoretical calculations of the local density of optical states (LDOS) in the three-dimensional photonic crystals. The experiments and theory taken together reveal that the emission lifetime is modified over frequency ranges that are broader than the homogeneous emission line width of R6G dye.

Broadband coherent backscattering spectroscopy of the interplay between order and disorder in three-dimensional opal photonic crystals

“…Clearly, density of states variations amount to only several percent for opal photonic crystals. 27,28 III. RESULTS Specular reflectivity measurements were collected for different angles of incidence φ.…”

Radiative Lifetime Modification of LaF3:Nd Nanoparticles Embedded in 3D Silicon Photonic Crystals

“…[ 18 , 19 ] In recent years, SE control by colloidal crystals and TiO 2 inverted opals has been demonstrated. [20][21][22][23][24][25] However, little work on SE has been conducted on silicon or other high refractive index contrast inverse opal PhCs that exhibit strongly modifi ed photonic DOS. [ 14 , 26 ] The emitters commonly used in the previous SE control studies were either organic dyes or colloidal quantum dots.…”

“…[ 14 , 26 ] The emitters commonly used in the previous SE control studies were either organic dyes or colloidal quantum dots. Although these materials exhibit high quantum emission effi ciency, these emitters are not ideal for several reasons: (i) generally the homogeneously-broadened emission of dyes does not allow investigation of sharp DOS features in an opal PhC; [ 23 ] (ii) both dyes and colloidal quantum dots often suffer from photo oxidation and bleaching; [ 27 , 28 ] (iii) and perhaps most importantly, they are generally introduced into opal PhCs by infi ltration and thus randomly infi ll the PhCs, including the near-surface and surface of the PhC where of course their optical properties are not infl uenced as much by the PhC. In this communication, we demonstrate incorporation of LaF 3 :Nd nanoparticles at well-defi ned locations in a silicon inverse opal.…”

Spontaneous emission of near-infrared quantum dots controlled with photonic crystals

“…Furthermore, the translational symmetry of photonic crystals allows for the positioning of the emitter in any unit cell. Therefore, photonic crystals enable broadband control of spontaneous emission rates over large volumes of emitters [30][31][32][33][34][35][36].…”

“…For strongly photonic crystals (S ≥ 0.10 [15]), the LDOS changes dramatically with frequency, for frequency-ranges that correspond with the band gap or with broad stop gaps. At low frequencies the LDOS follows the smooth ω 2 dependence that is known for the density of states in homogeneous systems [14,35]. At these frequencies optical Bragg diffraction does not occur and therefore the crystal is referred to as non-photonic.…”