Eur. Phys. J. D 25, 77-87 (2003)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2003-00080-2

Near dipole-dipole effects in a V-type medium with vacuum induced coherence

Escuela Universitaria de Óptica, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, C/ Arcos de Jalón s/n, 28037 Madrid, Spain

Corresponding authors: ^a oscargc@opt.ucm.es - ^b antonm@fis.ucm.es - ^c ferpo@fis.ucm.es

Received: 2 August 2002
Revised: 17 January 2003
Published online: 24 April 2003

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the influence of the local field correction (LFC) on the optical behavior of a closed V-type system. We consider a V configuration such that quantum interference between the two decay channels to the ground atomic level is important. When the two optical transitions are coupled by one laser field we find that LFC does not destroy the non-absorption resonance that usually appears due to quantum interference. On the other hand, the absorption profile is deformed due to the presence of LFC. We have also studied the case of a driving laser field coupling one of the optical transitions, and a probe laser field coupling the other one. In this field configuration the local field modifies substantially the optical response. We have found that the system can switch between absorption and gain by controlling the near dipole-dipole parameter. On the other hand, the relative phase between the pump and probe fields allow us to change the system from absorption to gain.