We theoretically investigate the dually dressed electromagnetically induced transparency, and the multidressed four-wave mixing ͑FWM͒ and six-wave mixing ͑SWM͒ processes in an inverted-Y-type atomic system with Zeeman sublevels. The results show that the Zeeman degeneracy of the dark states can be lifted by the dressing field as its intensity is increased. Moreover, the derived analytical expressions indicate that one can, for example, selectively create secondary dark states on the multi-Zeeman-sublevel dark states ͑by tuning the coupling field͒, distinguish two different types of dark states generated in two FWM processes ͑by properly controlling the coupling field intensity͒, and selectively enhance multi-FWM signals coming from various paths consisting of split Zeeman sublevels ͑by tuning the dressing field͒. The SWM signals can be either enhanced or suppressed by controlling the dressing field.

We report our experimental observations of spatial shift and splitting of four-wave mixing ͑FWM͒ signal beams induced by additional dressing laser beams. These effects are caused by the enhanced cross-Kerr nonlinearity due to atomic coherence in a two-level atomic system. The spatial separation and number of the split FWM beams can both be controlled by the intensity of the dressing beam, the Kerr nonlinearity, and atomic density. Theoretical results agree quite well with the observations. Studies of such controlled beam splitting can be very useful in understanding spatial soliton formation and interactions, and in applications for spatial signal processing.

Fluorine-19 magnetic resonance imaging (19F MRI) is gaining widespread interest from the fields of biomolecule detection, cell tracking, and diagnosis, benefiting from its negligible background, deep tissue penetration, and multispectral capacity. However, a wide range of 19F MRI probes are in great demand for the development of multispectral 19F MRI due to the limited number of high-performance 19F MRI probes. Herein, we report a type of water-soluble molecular 19F MRI nanoprobe by conjugating fluorine-containing moieties with a polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) cluster for multispectral color-coded 19F MRI. These chemically precise fluorinated molecular clusters are of excellent aqueous solubility with relatively high 19F contents and of single 19F resonance frequency with suitable longitudinal and transverse relaxation times for high-performance 19F MRI. We construct three POSS-based molecular nanoprobes with distinct 19F chemical shifts at −71.91, −123.23, and −60.18 ppm and achieve interference-free multispectral color-coded 19F MRI of labeled cells in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, in vivo 19F MRI reveals that these molecular nanoprobes could selectively accumulate in tumors and undergo rapid renal clearance afterward, illustrating their favorable in vivo behavior for biomedical applications. This study provides an efficient strategy to expand the 19F probe libraries for multispectral 19F MRI in biomedical research.

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We demonstrate the shift characteristics of four-wave mixing (FWM) beam spots which are controlled by the strong laser fields via the large cross-Kerr nonlinearity. The shift distances and directions are determined by the nonlinear dispersions. Based on such spatial displacements of the FWM beams, as well as the probe beam, we experimentally demonstrate spatial optical switching for one beam or multiple optical beams, which can be used for all-optical switching, switching arrays and routers.