Characteristics of spontaneous emission of polarized atoms in metal-dielectric multiple layer structures

The spontaneous emission (SE) progress of polarized atoms in a stratified structure of air-dielectric(D0)-metal(M)-dielectric(D1)-air can be controlled effectively by changing the thickness of the D1 layer and rotating the polarized direction of atoms. It is found that the normalized SE rate of atoms located inside the D0 layer crucially depends on the atomic position and the thickness of the D1 layer. When the atom is located near the D0-M interface, the normalized atomic SE rate as a function of the atomic position is abruptly onset for the thin D1 layer. However, with the increasing thickness of the D1 layer, the corresponding curve profile exhibits plateau and stays nearly unchanged. The substantial change of the SE rate stems from the excitation of the surface plasmon polaritons in metal-dielectric interface, and the feature crucially depends on the thickness of D1 layer. If atoms are positioned near the D0-air interface, the substantial variation of the normalized SE rate appears when rotating the polarized direction of atoms. These findings manifest that the atomic SE processes can be flexibly controlled by altering the thickness of the dielectric layer D1 or rotating the orientation of the polarization of atoms. © 2007 Chinese Physical Society and IOP Publishing Ltd.