Influence of a cylindrical waveguide with a concentric photonic band-gap wall on interatomic resonance energy transfer

Abstract

We consider how the rate of resonance energy transfer (RET) between an excited atom and a ground-state one is affected by the presence of a cylindrical photonic band-gap waveguide by using the Green’s function approach. Both positions inside and outside the wall and three types of atomic dipole moment orientations, namely radial, azimuthal and axial orientations, are examined. Results for the photonic band-gap structure and those for the perfectly reflecting one are compared. Differences between the two are found to be significant near the surfaces. Frequency dependence of the rate, which is beyond the perfectly reflecting wall model, is investigated. It is shown that when the waveguide is located in between two atoms which have transition dipole moments parallel with the axis and transition frequency falling within the gap region, the RET is suppressed.