title: Electromagnetically induced diffraction in sodium vapor.
abstract: By using a sodium atomic vapor we have observed a honeycomb-type multiple-diffraction pattern that was due to a grating induced optically by three noncollinear bichromatic excitation beams. In particular, when the two incident frequencies satisfy the two-photon resonance condition and the atomic density is high, the diffraction is enhanced by electromagnetically induced transparency, and strong Stokes and anti-Stokes components are generated in well-defined directions.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami Kumamoto-shi, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Ken-ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanbashi
authors.forename: Masaharu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mitsunaga
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Motomura