Abstract

The emission of light by sources, e.g., by luminescent centers, located in a thin nonabsorbing dielectric layer 0 between two half-spaces 1 and 2 is investigated theoretically. It is assumed that the light is emitted in electric or magnetic dipole transitions. But the theory is given in such a form that it can easily be extended to electric and magnetic quadrupole and higher-order multipole transitions. The electromagnetic boundary-value problem is solved rigorously for sources in layers 0 of arbitrary thickness. The radiation patterns, i.e., the angular distributions of light emitted into the half-spaces 1 and 2, are calculated. The theory takes into account the following effects that strongly influence the radiation patterns: (1) the wide-angle interferences that are a consequence of the coherence of the plane waves emitted into different directions, (2) the multiple-beam interferences that result from the multiple reflections of the plane waves between the interfaces 0/1 and 0/2, and (3) that evanescent waves present in the near field of the source radiate into media 1 and/or 2 if these media are denser than layer 0. This emission process is influenced by evanescent-wave effects analogous to the wide-angle interferences and the multiple-beam interferences of the plane waves. The limiting case of extremely thin layers 0 with optical thickness much smaller than the wavelength is also treated. Explicit analytical expressions are presented for the dipole radiation patterns in this case. Furthermore, the theory is generalized for sources in plane-stratified-layer systems. The dipole radiation patterns are derived for the case in which any numbers of loss-free or absorbing, dielectric or metallic thin films are present between the loss-free layer 0 of arbitrary thickness containing the source and the half-spaces 1 and 2.

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