Sideband-Induced Two-Photon Transparency

We show that it is possible to use a single sideband to induce two-photon transparency in a three-level cascade medium. The medium simultaneously absorbs two photons as a one-step process when the middle level is far off one-photon resonance. A resonant sideband coupling on the upper transition and the two-photon one-step process drive the medium into a trapped state, and the dominant component is the ground state. Thus almost all population is trapped in the ground state and the two-photon absorption is dramatically suppressed. We present a numerical calculation for arbitrary values of the atomic and field parameters and also provide an analytic description for the required conditions.