High-resolution antenna near-field imaging and sub-THz measurements with a small atomic vapor-cell sensing element

Abstract

Atomic sensing and measurement of millimeter-wave (mmW) and THz electric fields using quantum-optical EIT spectroscopy of Rydberg states in atomic vapors has garnered significant interest in recent years towards the development of atomic electric-field standards and sensor technologies. Here we describe recent work employing small atomic vapor cell sensing elements for near-field imaging of the radiation pattern of a K${}_u$-band horn antenna at 13.49 GHz. We image fields at a spatial resolution of $\lambda /10$ and measure over a 72 to 240 V/m field range using off-resonance AC-Stark shifts of a Rydberg resonance. The same atomic sensing element is used to measure sub-THz electric fields at 255 GHz, an increase in mmW-frequency by more than one order of magnitude. The sub-THz field is measured over a continuous $\pm$100 MHz frequency band using a near-resonant mmW atomic transition.

References in corpus (7)

• Coherent optical detection of highly excited Rydberg states using electromagnetically induced transparency
• Broadband Rydberg Atom-Based Electric-Field Probe: From Self-Calibrated Measurements to Sub-Wavelength Imaging
• Sub-Wavelength Imaging and Field Mapping via EIT and Autler-Townes Splitting In Rydberg Atoms
• Millimeter Wave Detection via Autler-Townes Splitting in Rubidium Rydberg Atoms
• Optical measurements of strong microwave fields with Rydberg atoms in a vapor cell
• Radio-frequency-modulated Rydberg states in a vapor cell
• Continuous-frequency measurements of high-intensity microwave electric fields with atomic vapor cells

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• Rydberg atoms for radio-frequency communications and sensing: atomic receivers for pulsed RF field and phase detection
• Quantum Physics Meets Music: A "Real-Time" Guitar Recording Using Rydberg-Atoms and Electromagnetically Induced Transparency
• Optimal State Choice for Rydberg Atom Microwave Sensors
• Non-Linearities In Atomic Quantum Receivers: Harmonic And Intermodulation Distortion