Combination of electromagnetically induced transparency and a mollow absorption spectrum in a degenerate two-level atomic ensemble: F_e = 1 ↔ F_g = 0

Abstract

We investigate the quantum coherence effects of a closed transition F _e = 1 ↔ F _g = 0 driven by transverse linearly polarized light field (with [sgrave] ± components) and probed by another transverse, linearly polarized light field. Owing to the competition of two-photon gain and single-photon absorption, the absorption spectrum is shown as a combination of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and Mollow absorption spectrum (MAS). In the degenerate case, the MAS covers the EIT window at the pump-probe detuning centre. In the magnetic field, two single-photon absorption peaks inside the EIT windows appear when the drive Rabi frequency is smaller than the Zeeman splitting while, when the Rabi frequency is larger than the Zeeman splitting, we find four emission peaks due to the two-photon gain. A transition from positive to negative dispersion is obtained, which means a shift between the subluminal and superluminal group velocities.