Inhibited and enhanced spontaneous emission from optically thin AlGaAs/GaAs double heterostructures

The spontaneous emission of light from electron-hole recombination in optically thin GaAs double heterostructures was studied. The electron-hole radiative recombination rate coefficient is not purely a property of the GaAs itelf, but depends strongly on the optical-mode density and refractive index of the medium in which it is immersed. The spontaneous-emission rate can be markedly increased or decreased depending on whether the surrounding refractive index is higher or lower than that of GaAs. (Author)