High-Resolution Antenna Near-Field Imaging and Sub-THz Measurements with a Small Atomic Vapor-Cell Sensing Element

Anderson, David; Paradis, Éric; Raithel, Georg; Sapiro, Rachel; Holloway, Christopher L.

doi:10.1109/gsmm.2018.8439437

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Rydberg spectroscopy presents an excellent tool for microwave [5] and sub-THz [26] metrology. Using three- photon Rydberg-EIT/EIA with red and infrared laser diodes may present an advantage over the more widely used two-photon Rydberg-EIT due to reduced cost and the fact that red and infrared light may cause less photoelectric effect and ionization within the vapor cells, potentially reducing the effects of DC electric fields on the quality of the Rydberg spectra.…”

Section: Microwave Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electromagnetically induced transparency, absorption, and microwave-field sensing in a Rb vapor cell with a three-color all-infrared laser system

et al. 2019

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A comprehensive study of three-photon electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT) and absorption (EIA) on the rubidium cascade 5S 1/2 → 5P 3/2 (laser wavelength 780 nm), 5P 3/2 → 5D 5/2 (776 nm), and 5D 5/2 → 28F 7/2 (1260 nm) is performed. The 780-nm probe and 776-nm dressing beams are counter-aligned through a Rb room-temperature vapor cell, and the 1260-nm coupler beam is co-or counter-aligned with the probe beam. Several cases of EIT and EIA, measured over a range of detunings of the 776-nm beam, are studied. The observed phenomena are modeled by numerically solving the Lindblad equation, and the results are interpreted in terms of the probe-beam absorption behavior of velocity-and detuning-dependent dressed states. To explore the utility of three-photon Rydberg EIA/EIT for microwave electric-field diagnostics, a sub-THz field generated by a signal source and a frequency quadrupler is applied to the Rb cell. The 100.633-GHz field resonantly drives the 28F 7/2 ↔ 29D 5/2 transition and causes Autler-Townes splittings in the Rydberg EIA/EIT spectra, which are measured and employed to characterize the performance of the microwave quadrupler.

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Section: Microwave Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electromagnetically induced transparency, absorption, and microwave-field sensing in a Rb vapor cell with a three-color all-infrared laser system

et al. 2019

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“…While the AT regime illustrated here provides an illustrative example of SItraceable RF measurement with Rydberg EIT in vapors, the RFP implements a more generalized method that allows for measurements of RF fields at arbitrary frequencies over wide dynamic ranges, from low (<1 V/m) to high (∼10 kV/m) RF fields. The physics principles of this RF measurement method have been described in previous work [15], [25], [30].…”

Section: Rydberg Atom-based Rf Field Sensing and Measurement With Eit...mentioning

confidence: 99%

A self-calibrating SI-traceable broadband Rydberg atom-based radio-frequency electric field probe and measurement instrument

Anderson,

Sapiro,

Raithel

2019

Preprint

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We present a self-calibrating, SI-traceable broadband Rydberg atom-based radio-frequency (RF) electric (E) field probe (the Rydberg Field Probe or RFP) and measurement instrument (Rydberg Field Measurement System or RFMS). The RFMS comprises an atomic RF field probe (RFP), connected by a ruggedized fiber-optic patch cord to a portable mainframe control unit with a computer software interface for probe RF measurement and analysis including real-time field and measurement uncertainty readout, and spectral RF waveform visualisation. The instrument employs all-optical electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) readout of spectral signatures from RFsensitive Rydberg states of an atomic vapor for self-calibrated, broadband measurements of continuous, pulsed, and modulated RF fields. The RFP exploits resonant and off-resonant Rydbergfield interactions to realize broadband RF E-field measurements at frequencies ranging from ∼10 MHz to sub-THz, over a wide electric-field dynamic range, with a single vapor-cell sensing element. The RFMS incorporates a RF-field-free atomic reference as well as a laser-frequency tracking unit to ensure RFMS reliability and accuracy of the RF E-field measurement. Atomic RF field measurement uncertainties reaching below 1% are demonstrated. We characterize the RFP and measure polar field patterns along primary axes of the RFP at 12.6 GHz RF, obtained by single-axis rotations of the RFP in the far-field of a standard gain horn antenna. Field pattern measurements at 2.5 GHz are also presented. The measured field patterns are in good agreement with finite-element simulations of the RFP. The data confirm that the atom-based RF E-field probe is well-suited for broadband isotropic RF measurement and reception. A calibration procedure and an uncertainty analysis are presented that account for deviations from perfectly isotropic response over 4π solid angle, which arise from asymmetric dielectric structures external to the active atomic measurement volume. The procedure includes contributions from both the fundamental atomic-spectroscopy measurement method and their associated analysis as well as uncertainty contributions due to material, geometry, and hardware design choices. The calibration procedure and uncertainty analysis yields a calibration (C) factor, used to establish absolute-standard SI-traceable calibration of the RFP. Polarization pattern measurements are also performed, demonstrating RF-polarization detection capability with the instrument that can optionally be implemented simultaneously with E-field measurements. RFP measurement capability for pulsed and modulated RF fields as well as direct, time-domain RFpulse waveform imaging are demonstrated. We conclude with a discussion of the practical use of the Rydberg atom-based RF E-field probe instrumentation in RF metrology towards the establishment of a new absolute (atomic) RF E-field measurement standard, application areas in RF measurement and engineering, and its value as a new quantum technology platform readily adaptable to spec...

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“…Equation 1 provides a useful approach to RF E-field sensing and measurement with EIT in Rydberg atom vapors, but serves to a large extent as a didactic model because it is valid only within a relatively limited E-field range and for a discrete, albeit large, set of RF field frequencies near-resonant with Rydberg transitions, thereby rendering it impractical in many real-world E-field measurement scenarios. This is addressed by a well-developed measurement method and approach using EIT and exploiting the full quantum response of the Rydberg atom interaction with RF fields that includes off-resonance AC Stark shift readouts [9], enabling direct E RM S measurement of continuous-frequency RF field frequencies over tens of GHz with a >60 dB dynamic range. A full non-perturbative Floquet treatment allows measurement of the electric-field values and frequencies of even stronger (coherent) RF fields [4,5].…”

Section: Atomic Rf Electric Field Sensingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rydberg atoms for radio-frequency communications and sensing: atomic receivers for pulsed RF field and phase detection

Anderson,

Sapiro,

Raithel

2019

Preprint

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I. INTRODUCTIONThe emergence of atomic sensor technologies is driving a paradigm shift in modern sensing and measurement by exploiting quantum phenomena to realize fundamentally new detection capabilities unmatched by their classical counterparts [1]. Atomic sensing of radio-frequency (RF) electric fields using Rydberg electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT) in atomic vapors has been the subject of growing scientific interest [2][3][4]. This has been motivated in part by a drive at National Metrology Institutes to replace century-old antennas as RF standards with absolute (atomic) standards for RF electric fields [3], and has recently been established as a novel quantum technology platform with broad capabilities [5,6] that has matured into commercial RF detection and measurement instrumentation [7,8]. A notable advance in atomic RF devices and measurement tools is the recent realization of the first Rydberg RF field probe (RFP) and measurement system (RFMS) for self-calibrated SI-traceable broadband RF measurement and imaging of continuous, pulsed, or modulated fields. Relevant developments include the realization of compact atomic sensing elements capable of broadband RF electric-field measurement from MHz to >100 GHz [9], fiber-coupled atomic vapor-cell RF field probes [6, 10], the demonstration of ultra-wide dynamic field ranges spanning sub-10 mV/m up to >10 kV/m (dynamic range >120 dB) [11,12], and all-optical circuit-free RF sensors for EMP/EMI-tolerant detection and operational integrity in high-intensity RF environments [13]. Hybrid atomic RF technology that combines atom-based optical sensing with traditional RF circuitry and resonators has also been developed realizing hybrid sensors with augmented performance capabilities such as resonator-enhanced ultra-high sensitivity polarization-selective RF detectors [14], waveguide-embedded atomic RF E-field measurement for SI-traceable RF power standards [15], and atom-mediated optical RF-power/voltage transducers and receivers [16]. Recently, Rydberg atom-based field sensing has also been adapted to modulated RF field detection promising new possibilities in RF communications, with demonstrations including a Rydberg-atom transmission system for digital communication [17], atom radio-over-fiber [18], and "Atomic Radio" [19] using a multi-band atomic AM and FM radio receiver based on direct atom-mediated RF-to-optical conversion of baseband signals picked up from modulated RF carriers [20].

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High-Resolution Antenna Near-Field Imaging and Sub-THz Measurements with a Small Atomic Vapor-Cell Sensing Element

Cited by 17 publications

References 12 publications

Electromagnetically induced transparency, absorption, and microwave-field sensing in a Rb vapor cell with a three-color all-infrared laser system

Electromagnetically induced transparency, absorption, and microwave-field sensing in a Rb vapor cell with a three-color all-infrared laser system

A self-calibrating SI-traceable broadband Rydberg atom-based radio-frequency electric field probe and measurement instrument

Rydberg atoms for radio-frequency communications and sensing: atomic receivers for pulsed RF field and phase detection

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