Abstract

We show that amplification without inversion (AWI) can occur in a V system (ground state a, excited states b and b′) in the presence of a driving field nearly resonant with the a→b transition. We give a physical interpretation for the amplification mechanism using a S-matrix approach and we show that the origin of AWI is the reduction of the absorption because of an interference mechanism that has no counterpart in the amplification.

© 1996 IEEE