Phase-controlled electromagnetically induced symmetric and asymmetric grating in an asymmetric three-coupled quantum well

Fraunhofer light diffraction of a weak probe field passing through an asymmetric three-coupled quantum well, which is driven by a standing wave and two coupling laser fields, is investigated. Depending on which transitions are coupled by the probe and standing field, two schemes are considered. It is demonstrated that owing to the closed-loop transition, optical properties and the diffraction pattern of the probe field in both schemes are highly affected by the relative phase of the applied fields and can be controlled by this parameter. Moreover, it is shown that the proposed schemes have multifunction capabilities. In the first scheme, as a result of varying relative phase, the electromagnetically induced absorption phase grating turns to the electromagnetically induced gain phase grating with remarkable efficiency, while in the latter scheme, a significant result is revealed: Tuning the relative phase can lead to inducing optical parity-time symmetry, which gives rise to an asymmetric diffraction grating. Such an all-optical phase-sensitive operation could be useful in optical switching and optical communications. (C) 2019 Optical Society of America