Spontaneous Emission Control in Micropillar Cavities Containing a Fluorescent Molecular Dye

The fabrication of micropillar microcavities containing a fluorescent organic dye is reported. Scanning near-field optical microscopy of the luminescence from such structures (see figure and cover) confirms that a significant increase in radiative rate occurs as a result of the reduced optical-mode volume. Such structures may eventually permit efficient single-photon light sources operating at room temperature to be developed for quantum-cryptography and quantum-computing applications.