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Published on: November 11, 2013
Degenerate Two-Photon Rydberg Atom Voltage Reference
C Teale1, J Sherman1, J Kitching1
1Time and Frequency Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA.
Abstract:
We implement a DC voltage reference by measuring Stark shifts of cesium Rydberg atoms in a vapor cell. Cesium atoms are excited from the ground state to the 15s state via a degenerate two-photon transition that provides a narrow, Doppler free line. The 15s state experiences a scalar, quadratic stark shift which is used to measure the voltage across a parallel plate capacitor integrated into the vapor cell. We demonstrate a sensitivity of at a bias voltage of 100 V. The device could be adapted for even larger voltages by increasing the plate spacing or using a lower energy state.
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