Controlling four-wave and six-wave mixing processes in multilevel atomic systems

We experimentally demonstrate that four-wave mixing (FWM) and six-wave mixing (SWM) processes can be selectively turned on and off in a close-cycled four-level atomic system. Under certain laser beam configuration, the FWM and SWM processes can be made to coexist with similar signal amplitudes and transmit through the same electromagnetically induced transparency window in such folded four-level atomic system. By introducing an additional pumping laser beam connecting to the fifth energy level, both FWM and SWM signals can be greatly enhanced.