Strong Purcell effect for InAs quantum boxes in three-dimensional solid-state microcavities

A strong enhancement of the spontaneous emission rate (Purcell effect) has been observed for self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum boxes inserted in GaAs-based pillar mi crocavities (x5) and microdisks (x15) using time-resolved as well as c.w. photoluminescence experiments. We show that the magnitude of the Purcell effect can be quantitatively understood by considering both the Purcell figure of merit F-p of such cavities (F-p much greater than 1) and the spatial/spectral distribution of the inhomogeneous collection of atom-like emitters. These results open the may to the development of single-photon devices such as photon-guns or photon-turnstiles, able to emit photons one-by-one in a deterministic way.