  The extraordinary properties of laser-induced transparency of a
negative-index slab and parametric amplification for a backward-wave signal are
investigated. The effects of the idler absorption and phase mismatch on the
amplification of the signal are studied, and the feasibility of ensuring robust
transparency for a broad range of control field intensities and slab
thicknesses is shown. A particular option consisting of the independent
engineering of a strong four-wave mixing response and the negative refractive
index is proposed and its specific features are investigated. The feasibility
of quantum control over the slab transparency in such a scheme is confirmed
through numerical experiments. We thus show opportunities and conditions for
the compensation of the strong absorption inherent to plasmonic negative-index
metamaterials, and we further show achievable transparency through coherent
energy transfer from the control optical field to the negative-index signal.
