Continuous radio frequency electric-field detection through adjacent Rydberg resonance tuning

Abstract

We demonstrate the use of multiple atomic-level Rydberg-atom schemes for continuous frequency detection of radio frequency (RF) fields. Resonant detection of RF fields by electromagnetically-induced transparency and Autler-Townes (AT) in Rydberg atoms is typically limited to frequencies within the narrow bandwidth of a Rydberg transition. By applying a second field resonant with an adjacent Rydberg transition, far-detuned fields can be detected through a two-photon resonance AT splitting. This two-photon AT splitting method is several orders of magnitude more sensitive than off-resonant detection using the Stark shift. We present the results of various experimental configurations and a theoretical analysis to illustrate the effectiveness of this multiple level scheme. These results show that this approach allows for the detection of frequencies in continuous band between resonances with adjacent Rydberg states.

References in corpus (4)

• 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
• Assessment of Rydberg Atoms for Wideband Electric Field Sensing
• Continuous-frequency measurements of high-intensity microwave electric fields with atomic vapor cells