Polarization dressings of four-wave mixing process in a V-type three-level atomic system

We investigate the interplay of four coexisting four-wave mixing (FWM) signals and enhancement/suppression of a degenerate FWM process in a V-type three-level atomic system. In this experiment, we reveal how the polarizations of the pumping fields affect the generated FWM signal, and that the double-period polarization dressings of the FWM process results from different combinations of linearly and circularly polarized components. Such experimental and theoretical results show that the transitions between different Zeeman levels, selected by the pumping beams with different polarization states, can significantly affect the dressing efficiency of FWM signal. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.