Enhanced nonlinear susceptibility via double-double electromagnetically induced transparency

Abstract

We investigate the nonlinear optical susceptibility of an alkali-metal atom with tripod electronic configuration responsible for generating cross-phase modulation and self-phase modulation under the condition of double-double electromagnetically induced transparency. Our investigation demonstrates an enhancement in the nonlinear optical susceptibility of an alkali-metal atom by a factor of 1000 in the region of the second transparency window. This enhancement is in comparison with the atom's susceptibility in the first transparency window for the same parameters under the same conditions. Nonlinear-absorption enhancement arises by canceling Raman-gain generation, which arises when the probe and signal fields have equal intensities. At the center of the second transparency window, we obtain the condition required to attain a nonvanishing nonlinear optical susceptibility. In the bare-state picture, the coupling field must be off resonant from a bare-to-bare-state transition, while working in the semiclassical dressed picture required the signal field to be tuned off resonantly with a bare-to-dressed-state transition. The relation that governs the values of coupling- and signal-field detuning are also obtained. Our scheme exhibits the fact that the second transparency window has advantages over the first transparency window with respect to obtaining an enhanced Kerr effect, and our calculation includes simulation of both low-temperature and Doppler-broadened regimes.