Spontaneous emission of europium ions embedded in dielectric nanospheres

We measure fluorescence lifetimes of emitters embedded in isolated single dielectric nanospheres. By varying the diameters of the spheres from 100 nm to 2 mum and by modifying their dielectric surrounding, we demonstrate a systematic change of paradigm in the spontaneous emission rate, as we cross the border from the superwavelength regime of Mie resonances to the nanoscopic realm of Rayleigh scattering. Our data show inhibition of the spontaneous emission up to 3 times and are in excellent agreement with the results of analytical calculations.