Enhancement and suppression of spontaneous emission by temperature tuning InAs quantum dots to photonic crystal cavities

We report on the control of the spontaneous emission rates in InAs self-assembled quantum dots weakly coupled to the mode of a modified H1 defect cavity in a two-dimensional photonic crystal slab. Changes in sample temperature are used to spectrally tune the exciton emission from a single quantum dot to the monopole mode of the microcavity. A Purcell enhancement of the spontaneous emission rate of up to a factor of 11.4 is seen on-resonance, while suppression by up to a factor of 4.4 is seen off-resonance. Also, a two orders of magnitude increase in the intensity of light detected from the exciton is measured when compared to a quantum dot in bulk GaAs. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.