Electrodynamic coupling of electric dipole emitters to a fluctuating mode density within a nano-cavity

Abstract

We investigate the impact of rotational diffusion on the electrodynamic coupling of fluorescent dye molecules (oscillating electric dipoles) to a tunable planar metallic nanocavity. Fast rotational diffusion of the molecules leads to a rapidly fluctuating mode density of the electromagnetic field along the molecules' dipole axis, which significantly changes their coupling to the field as compared to the opposite limit of fixed dipole orientation. We derive a theoretical treatment of the problem and present experimental results for rhodamine 6G molecules in cavities filled with low and high viscosity liquids. The derived theory and presented experimental method is a powerful tool for determining absolute quantum yield values of fluorescence.