Abstract

The quantum coherence phenomenon of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is observed in a three-level system composed of an excited state and two coherent superpositions of the two ground-state levels. This peculiar ground state basis is composed of the so-called bright and dark states of the same atomic system in a standard coherent population trapping configuration. The characteristics of EIT, namely, width of the transmission window and reduced group velocity of light, in this unusual basis, are theoretically and experimentally investigated and are shown to be essentially identical to those of standard EIT in the same system.

© 2009 Optical Society of America

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History
Original Manuscript: September 15, 2009
Manuscript Accepted: September 23, 2009
Published: October 12, 2009

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Author Affiliations

F. Bretenaker

CNRS

R. Ghosh

University Jawaharlal Nehru

F. Goldfarb

University Paris Sud XI

T. Lauprêtre, J. Ruggiero

University Paris XI

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