Spontaneous emission rates of a single impurity molecule in a uniaxial host crystal

A theory of the dependence of the spontaneous emission rate of a single impurity molecule on the orientation of the transition dipole moment vector in a birefringent host crystal is developed. The dependences of the density of the emitted photon final states (expressed through the phase and the ray velocities of the photons) and the local and the average electric field strengths on the orientation of the wave vector of the photon in the host crystal and on the principal refractive indices are taken into account. In a uniaxial crystal we have calculated how the spontaneous emission rate depends on the ordinary and the extraordinary principal refractive indices and on the angle between the transition dipole moment vector and the optical axis. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.