Optical gain and loss spectra of driven degenerate two-level transitions

Summary form only given. Studies of the classic problem of two non-degenerate atomic energy states exposed to an intense monochromatic driving field have enabled fundamental discoveries in quantum optics including inversionless optical gain, multiphoton laser action, and electromagnetically induced transparency. Nevertheless, the level degeneracy present in many atomic systems can and has been shown to play key roles in a variety of unique driven atom dynamics ranging from light-shift mediated stimulated Raman optical gain and lasing to electromagnetically induced absorption. To date, however, the potentially rich dynamics of these novel systems has received relatively little attention. Atomic barium (Ba) possesses a diversity of naturally abundant isotopes with varying degrees of level degeneracy, making it ideally suited to studies of degenerate two-level driven atom dynamics.