Study of coherence effects in an inverted Y-type four-level system

Atomic coherence and interference play an important role in the study of the atom-photon interactions. Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is an extensively studied two-photon coherence phenomenon theoretically as well as experimentally. EIT is mainly observed in three-level atomic systems which causes transparency by quenching absorption of the medium. In this paper, based on the lambda type three-level system including energy level 11>, 12> and 13>, a microwave driving field is introduced between the excited-state energy level 13> and another excited-state energy level 14> to form an inverted Y-type four-level system. We theoretically study the two- and three-photon coherence in this system. The results show that the coupling field makes the probing absorption intensity at the resonant frequency have a very narrow line-width depression, i.e., EIT. The microwave field causes a dynamic Stark splitting of the energy level 13> and induces the Aulter-Townes double peaks. Their frequency interval is exactly equal to the Rabi frequency of the microwave field. The presence of all three fields induces wide window of EIT at the line center owing to the enhanced depression results. The transient evolution is also discussed to understand the optical switching process in the system. Our theoretical study will be helpful to get a deeper insight into the three-photon effects in multilevel systems.