We have observed diffraction signals by a grating originating from electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a three-level Λ system of cold sodium atoms. Theoretical and experimental analyses of this phenomenon, called the electromagnetically induced grating (EIG), have revealed that EIG spectra exhibit background-free, Lorentzian signal profiles regardless of the pump frequencies, making a clear contrast to the case of ordinary EIT spectra.

• Received 31 December 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.59.4773