We discuss the competition between electromagnetically induced transparency and Raman processes in a Λ system due to the cross talk among optical transitions. We compare theory with recent experimental work of Harada et al.
This investigation clarifies the transition phenomenon between the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and Raman absorption in a ladder-type system of Doppler-broadened cesium vapor. A competition window of this transition was found to be as narrow as 2 MHz defined by the probe Rabi frequency. For a weak probe, the spectrum of EIT associated with quantum interference suggests that the effect of the Doppler velocity on the spectrum is negligible. When the Rabi frequency of the probe becomes comparable with the effective decay rate, an electromagnetically induced absorption (EIA) dip emerges at the center of the power broadened EIT peak. While the Rabi frequency of the probe exceeds the effective decay rate, decoherence that is generated by the intensified probe field occurs and Raman absorption dominates the interaction process, yielding a pure absorption spectrum; the Doppler velocity plays an important role in the interaction. A theory that is based on density matrix simulation, with or without the Doppler effect, can qualitatively fit the experimental data. In this work, the coherence of atom-photon interactions is created or destroyed using the probe Rabi frequency as a decoherence source.
In this paper, we review our recent experimental studies on electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) from electron spin coherences in semiconductor quantum wells. Coherent Raman resonances, manifestations of EIT from electron spin coherences at relatively low pump intensities, were demonstrated in both V-type and Λ-type three-level systems via heavy-hole exciton and trion transitions in undoped and doped quantum wells, respectively. Coherent Raman resonances from electron spin coherences via light-hole transitions were also demonstrated in a waveguide geometry that enables a long optical interaction length as well as a large absorption coefficient. Experimental approaches that can avoid or reduce detrimental many-body effects in quantum wells are suggested for the realization of nearly ideal EIT processes.
We propose a method to controllably suppress the effect of the four-wave mixing caused by the coupling of the strong control optical field to both optical transitions in the Λ system under the conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). At sufficiently high atomic density, this process leads to amplification of a weak optical signal field, that is detrimental for the fidelity of any EIT-based quantum information applications. Here we show that an additional absorption resonance centred around the Stokes field frequency, generated in such a four-wave mixing process, may efficiently suppress the unwanted probe amplification without affecting properties of the EIT interaction. We discuss the possibility of creating such tunable absorption using two-photon Raman absorption resonances in the other Rb isotope, and present some preliminary experimental results.