Phase control of light amplification without inversion in two Lambda-type atomic systems

Abstract

We examine the gain property of a probe field interacting with two different three-level Lambda-type atomic systems with an open loop or a close loop. In the atomic system with an open loop, there exists quantum interference resulting from spontaneous emissions to two near-degenerate lower levels from a common upper level, and the weak probe field can be greatly amplified due to the spontaneously generated coherence. Moreover, the probe gain becomes sensitive to the relative phase between the probe and coupling fields, so we can realize phase control of the probe gain in principle. In the atomic system with a close loop, we use a microwave field to couple the two well-spaced lower levels so that quantum coherence similar to SGC can be generated. In this atomic system, we also can achieve the phase-sensitive probe gain due to the quantum interference between two different absorption channels for the probe field. Note, only in the case of three-photon resonance, this close-loop atomic system can reach a steady state. While in the case of three-photon off-resonance, the probe gain without inversion always oscillates periodically versus time, thus no steady-state probe gain can be achieved.