Physical Review A
Control of multitransparency windows via dark-state phase manipulation
Utsab Khadka, Yanpeng Zhang, Min Xiao
Abstract
We identify a process in which we can control the behavior of an atomic medium to switch between transparent and enhanced-absorption at multiple frequencies. The process relies on the quantum interference between multiple dark states, which can be constructive or destructive at different frequencies and can be altered dramatically by changing the phase difference between the two circularly polarized components of a single coherent field. This phase-controlled switching behavior is obtainable without altering the powers or frequency detunings of the beams. We demonstrate the process experimentally by using two coherent fields and atomic rubidium vapor. Such selective switching between multiple frequency channels could also have applications in optical communication and quantum information processing.