Large spontaneous emission enhancement in InAs quantum dots coupled to microdisk whispering gallery modes

Measuring the enhancement of spontaneous emission decay rates of quantum dot emission coupled to microcavity modes is typically hampered by variable coupling of the quantum dot emission. This is particularly evident in the microdisk cavity since the whispering gallery modes are localized near the disk edge, while quantum dot emitters are typically uniformily distributed throughout the disk. The distribution of spontaneous emission decay rates under these circumstances can be determined using a distribution function for the various spontaneous decay rates, and demonstrate that large decay rate enhancement are present. To remove the spatial coupling variation, quantum dots are selectively placed near the microdisk edge. Initial photoluminescence measurements indicate that recombination processes in these quantum dots are not dominated by surface recombination.