Coupling-probe laser spectroscopy of degenerate two-level systems: An experimental survey of various polarisation combinations

Several absorption and dispersion spectra of a probe and a coupling laser of different polarisations generating electromagnetically induced absorption in atomic caesium were measured and compared. In the case of at least one linearly polarised laser, electromagnetically induced absorption and absorption within transparency were observed for the probe and coupling laser, respectively. For laser beams of counter-rotating circular polarisation the coupling absorption spectra changed from absorption within transparency to transparency within transparency once the medium was saturated. However, the corresponding parametric dispersion spectra remained unchanged in structure.