Radiative and guided wave emission of Er3+ atoms located in planar multidielectric structures

Spontaneous emission of erbium atoms implanted in various planar multidielectric stacks is investigated. Computational and experimental analyses are performed so as to assess the amount of light leaking into the radiative and the guided modes of the structures. The key point is the demonstration of the dominant emission into the guided modes, even though the atoms are implanted in the spacer of a resonant microcavity structure. The result is of practical interest since it challenges the conventional idea about the electromagnetic confinement, which is likely to be reached within planar microcavities.