Dielectric microspheres as optical cavities: Einstein A and B coefficients and level shift

Abstract

The rates of spontaneous emission and stimulated emission and absorption for a two-level atom in a dielectric microsphere are calculated for weak E₁ coupling. The A coefficient for spontaneous emission is proportional to the zero-point fluctuation of the electric field ℰ_ij evaluated in the previous paper [ J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 4, 1995 ( 1987)], which shows sharp resonances in frequency (Q > 10⁴). It is verified that the ratio of the A and B coefficients is determined by the spectral density of thermal radiation. The level shift tends to repel the transition line away from the cavity resonance.