| Spontaneous atomic emission is not a process of the isolated atom but rather a cooperative effect of the atom and the vacuum field. It is now well established that spontaneous radiative decay rates can be enhanced or suppressed through the effect of cavities comprising various types of discrete, reflective-mirror type, boundaries. The cavity effect is generally understood in terms of a cavity-induced modification of the vacuum spectral energy density. Recently, interest has grown in the possibility that systems characterized by distributed periodic boundary conditions, such as a spatially varying index of refraction, might be effective in controlling radiative atomic processes.;A semi-classical theory is given that enables an estimate of the size of the lifetime modification of a two-level radiator contained within a three-dimensionally incomplete photonic bandgap structure called a fiber-Bragg grating. Following this is an exploration of a specific system and its effect upon radiative spontaneous emission. It is found through fluorescence line narrowing and frequency hole burning measurements that the observation of lifetime modification of the specific system is complicated due to intra and inter Stark energy migration. A lifetime modification measurement then shows that no change in lifetime is observed beyond the error bars on the measurement results.;The tuning and coherence properties of a short-external-cavity diode laser that may be useful for future time-dependent spectroscopic measurements are examined using a fiber-based, self-heterodyne technique. Coherence properties during active frequency scans are characterized through analysis of time-dependent heterodyne beat signals at the output of a fiber interferometer. |
