edited by R K Chang (Yale University) & A J Campillo (Naval Research Laboratory)

The dielectric microstructures act as ultrahigh Q factors optical cavities, which modify the spontaneous emission rates and alter the spatial distributions of the input and output radiation. The editors have selected leading scientists who have made seminal contributions in different aspects of optical processes in microcavities. Every attempt has been made to unify the underlying physics pertaining to microcavities of various shapes. This book begins with a chapter on the role of microcavity modes with additional chapters on how these microcavity modes affect the spontaneous and stimulated emission rates, enhance nonlinear optical processes, used in cavity-QED and chemical physics experiments, aid in single-molecule detection, influence the design of microdisk semiconductor lasers, and how deformed cavities can be treated with classical chaos theory.

• The Role of Quasinormal Modes (E S-C Ching et al.)
• Optical Mode Density and Spontaneous Emission in Microcavities (S D Brorson & P M W Skovgaard)
• Very High Q Whispering-Gallery Modes in Silica Microspheres for Cavity-QED Experiments (V Lefèvre-Seguin et al.)
• Molecular Fluorescence in a Microcavity: Solvation Dynamics and Single Molecule Detection (M D Barnes et al.)
• Cavity QED Modified Stimulated and Spontaneous Processes in Microdroplets (A J Campillo et al.)
• Perturbation Effects on the Resonances of a Spherical Dielectric Microcavity (M M Mazumder et al.)
• Nonlinear Optical Effects in Microcylinders and Microdroplets (R L Armstrong)
• The Role of MDRs in Chemical Physics: Intermolecular Energy Transfer in Microdroplets (S Arnold et al.)
• Dynamic Optical Processes in Microdisk Lasers (R E Slusher & U Mohideen)
• Dielectric Photonic Wells and Wires and Spontaneous Emission Coupling Efficiency of Microdisk and Photonic-Wire Semiconductor Lasers (S-T Ho et al.)
• Chaotic Light: A Theory of Asymmetric Resonant Cavities (J U Nöckel & A D Stone)