Microcavity optical mode structure measurements via absorption and emission of polymer thin films

Langmuir-Blodgett deposition was used to control the positions of luminescent thin films of the polymer substituted poly(p -phenylene) (SPPP) within metal mirror microcavities. In this way, the position of the absorbing/emitting layers were precisely defined, permitting the optical mode structure of the cavities to be probed by both the emission and absorption of the chromophore. It was demonstrated that the spontaneous emission from a thin film of chromophore varied as a function of the optical electric field intensity within the microcavity and was therefore dependant on its position within the cavity. The absorption of the chromophore film was investigated by coupling the ultraviolet excitation source to the cavity mode and was also found to vary as a function of the optical electric field intensity of the cavity mode.