Rydberg-atom-based radio-frequency sensors: amplitude-regime sensing

Area of Science:

• Atomic Physics
• Quantum Sensing
• Electromagnetics

Background:

• Rydberg atom sensors offer unique advantages like small size and self-calibration for detecting radio frequency (RF) fields.
• Existing research primarily focuses on Autler-Townes splitting, with less attention paid to the amplitude regime for field strength determination.

Purpose of the Study:

• To derive and validate analytic expressions for the absorption coefficient in the amplitude regime of Rydberg atom sensors.
• To analyze the impact of atomic thermal motion and Doppler broadening on sensor performance.

Main Methods:

• Development of analytic expressions for absorption coefficient calculation.
• Investigation of multi-level interference phenomena.
• Comparison of Doppler broadening models to assess sensitivity limitations.

Main Results:

• Analytic expressions for absorption coefficient in the amplitude regime are provided and validated across a wide parameter space.
• The influence of atomic thermal motion and residual Doppler shifts on sensitivity is explicitly addressed.
• Sensitivity is estimated under laser shot noise limitations.

Conclusions:

• The derived analytic expressions are vital for understanding absorption in Rydberg atom-based sensors operating in the amplitude regime.
• This work provides insights into the underlying physics of multi-level interference phenomena in these sensors.
• The findings are important for optimizing the design and performance of Rydberg atom RF field sensors.