Comparative Study of Light Manipulation in Three-Level Systems Via Spontaneously Generated Coherence and Relative Phase of Laser Fields

We present a comparative study of the control of group velocity in three-level atomic systems including Λ-, Ladder-, and V-types via spontaneously generated coherence (SGC) and relative phase of laser fields. In the steady regime, expressions of group index are derived as an analytical function of controllable parameters related to SGC and relative phase. It is shown that the group velocity can be further slowed down or speeded up under SGC in which modifications of group velocity due to the SGC in Λ- and V-systems are stronger than that in Ladder-system. In particular, when interference strength of SGC p increases from 0.7 to 1.0, the light propagation is switched from superluminal to subluminal modes (for Λ- and Ladder-systems) or from subluminal to superluminal modes (for V-system). In the presence of relative phase, the group velocity changes between subluminal and superluminal modes with a period of 2π. In resonant region, the largest positive value of group index reaches at the relative phase φ = π while the largest negative value of group index reaches at φ = 0 and 2π for the Λ- and Ladder-systems, otherwise, for the V-system the largest positive group index occurs at φ = 0 and 2π, and the largest negative group index occurs at φ = π. (paper)