Abstract

The effect of photonic crystals on the spontaneous emission of light-emitting species is of extreme importance in the context of investigation of fundamental light-matter interactions. Artificial opals consisting of submicrometer-sized amorphous silica globules arranged in an fcc lattice have recently been shown to be promising structures for the photonic band engineering [1]. They exhibit a pronounced pseudogap in the visible range which manifests itself in optical transmission and reflection experiments and affects fluorescence spectra of embedded dye molecules [1].

© 1998 IEEE