Multiformity of Optical Quantum Coherence Systems with Y and Inverted Y-type Schemes

Abstract

Y and inverted Y-type four-level schemes for optical quantum coherence systems, which may he intuitively considered to be very simple, have not been studied intensively till now. In this paper, we present the multiformity of these two types of schemes by considering that they can be classified into nine possible level styles as the second-order sub-schemes using laser fields. Further we point out the complexity of their more than one hundred realistic configurations as the third-order four-level sub-schemes that may appear in the optical quantum coherence experiments. Throughout this paper we review which configurations have been studied in some research aspects and which ones not, according to our knowledge, in order to be propitious to next steps of theoretical and experimental investigations, especially for applications in the fields of quantum optics, quantum information science, laser spectroscopy, and so on.