Theory of emission from an active photonic lattice

The emission from a radiating source embedded in a photonic lattice is calculated. The analysis considers the photonic lattice and free space as a combined system. Furthermore, the radiating source and electromagnetic field are quantized. Results show the deviation of the photonic lattice spectrum from the blackbody distribution, with intracavity emission suppressed at certain frequencies and enhanced at others. In the presence of rapid population relaxation, where the photonic lattice and blackbody populations are described by the same equilibrium distribution, it is found that the enhancement does not result in output intensity exceeding that of the blackbody at the same frequency. However, for slow population relaxation, the photonic lattice population has a greater tendency to deviate from thermal equilibrium, resulting in output intensities exceeding those of the blackbody, even for identically pumped structures. © 2006 The American Physical Society.