Low-loss negative refraction by laser induced magneto-electric cross-coupling

We discuss the feasibility of negative refraction with reduced absorption in coherently driven atomic media. Coherent coupling of an electric and a magnetic dipole transition by laser fields induces magneto-electric cross-coupling and negative refraction at dipole densities which are considerably smaller than necessary to achieve a negative permeability. At the same time the absorption gets minimized due to destructive quantum interference and the ratio of negative refraction index to absorption becomes orders of magnitude larger than in systems without coherent cross-coupling. The proposed scheme allows for a fine-tuning of the refractive index. We derive a generalized expression for the impedance of a medium with magneto-electric cross coupling and show that impedance matching to vacuum can easily be achieved. Finally we discuss the tensorial properties of the medium response and derive expressions for the dependence of the refractive index on the propagation direction.