Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/M16313/01
Title:	TAILORING QUANTUM OPTICS: DIELECTRIC CAVITY EFFECTS IN PHOTONIC MICROSTRUCTURES
Principal Investigator:	Babiker, Professor M
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Physics
Organisation:	University of Essex
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 October 1998	Ends:	01 May 2000	Value (£):	166,719
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Lasers & Optics
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
One of the significant advances in quantum optics in the last decade or so has been the experimental verification of the inhibition of spontaneous decay in a hollow microcavity, as predicted by theory for dipoles oscillating in the optical frequency range. This has led to speculation about quantum processes in dielectric cavities, especially in view of the impressive advances that have been made in the fabrication of ordered dielectric structures, typically at a scale comparable to or smaller than an optical dipole transition wavelength. Photonic microstructures have great potential for the generation of optoelectronic devices. The usual approach to analysing their properties is to solve the classical Maxwell equations by treating the materials as dielectrics with frequency-independent susceptibilities. However, a detailed understanding of electromagnetic processes in photonic structures entails developing a quantum treatment which includes the full frequency dependence of e(w). This project aims to evaluate rates of processes and associated optical effects for the quantum systems on which device operation is based: point dipoles, quantum dots and impurity atoms and ions. These will be set in a context where they are made to interact with the light modes sustained by dispersive microstructured photonic materials made of semiconductors, metals and dielectrics. The purpose is to quantify the influence of dielectric confinement on the important characteristics of these quantum systems and so determine their potential for enhancing the performance of optoelectrinic devices and for new applications.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.sx.ac.uk