Physical Review A

Electromagnetically induced transparency and Autler-Townes splitting: Two similar but distinct phenomena in two categories of three-level atomic systems

Tony Abi-Salloum

Published May 19, 2010• 159 citations

Abstract

Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and Autler-Townes (AT) splitting are two phenomena that could be featured in a variety of three-level atomic systems. The considered phenomena, EIT and AT, are similar ``looking'' in the sense that they are both characterized by a reduction in absorption of a weak field in the presence of a stronger field. In this paper, we explicitly set the threshold of separation between EIT and AT splitting in a unified study of four different three-level atomic systems. Two resonances are studied and compared in each case. A comparison of the magnitudes of the resonances reveals two coupling-field regimes and two categories of three-level system.

DOI: 10.1103/physreva.81.053836

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