Effect of spontaneously generated coherence on left-handedness in a degeneracy atomic system

A theoretical investigation is carried out into the effect of spontaneously generated coherence(SGC) on the left-handedness in a four-level Y-type atomic system with two highest nearly degenerate lying levels. It is found, with the spontaneously generated coherence intensity enhancing, the atomic system gradually displays left-handedness with simultaneous negative permittivity and permeability. And the refractive index enhances with the increasing intensity of SGC.However, the absorption is suppressed by the SGC effect when the SGC has a large intensity.When the probe field is near-resonant coupled to the atomic system, the appearance of SGC doesn’t always change the permeability from positive to negative and allow for left-handed behavior,unless the SGC reaches a large intensity.