Enhancement and suppression of spatial splitting four-wave mixing in atomic medium

Abstract

We experimentally report on the evolution from singly-dressed to doubly-dressed four-wave mixing (FWM) process by controlling the powers of the probe, the pump and the dressing fields respectively. The differences in the enhancement and the suppression of FWM signal between the two-level and cascade three-level atomic systems are observed and explained by the multi-dressed effect theoretically. Both the x direction and the y direction spatial splittings of the degenerate-FWM (DWFM) beams are obtained. We also investigate the switch between the enhancement and the suppression of the DWFM signals and between its spatial splittings in x direction and y direction. The spatial splittings in x direction and y direction can be controlled by the relative position and the intensity of the involved laser beams. Such a study can be useful for optimizing the efficiency of the FWM process and providing potential applications in spatial signal processing.