Practicable enhancement of spontaneous emission using surface plasmons

The authors develop a rigorous theory of the enhancement of spontaneous emission from a light emitting device via coupling the radiant energy in and out of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) on the metal-dielectric interface. Using the GaN/Ag system as an example, the authors show that using SPP pays off only for emitters that have a low luminescence efficiency. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.