Microscopic analysis of spontaneous emission in absorbing dielectrics

Spontaneous emission has been analyzed in an absorbing dielectric. The decay rate has been obtained for an excited atom (molecule) calculating the total rate of excitation transfer to the surrounding species. The contribution due to the far-zone energy transfer has been identified as the rate of photon emission in the absorbing medium. The analysis treats the surrounding medium microscopically, so that effects due to discreteness of the medium (such as the local field effects) are reflected intrinsically in the decay rates. The microscopic approach supports the previous introduction of the local field factors on a phenomenological basis. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.