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arXiv:2009.14383 · Physical Review Applied

Waveguide-Coupled Rydberg Spectrum Analyzer from 0 to 20 GHz

David H. Meyer, Paul D. Kunz, Kevin C. Cox

Published Jan 27, 2021• 210 citations
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Abstract

We demonstrate an atomic rf receiver and spectrum analyzer based on thermal Rydberg atoms coupled to a planar microwave waveguide. We use an off-resonant rf heterodyne technique to achieve continuous operation for carrier frequencies ranging from dc to 20 GHz. The system achieves an intrinsic sensitivity of up to $\ensuremath{-}120(2)$, dc coupling, 4-MHz instantaneous bandwidth, and over 80 dB of linear dynamic range. By connecting through a low-noise preamplifier, we demonstrate high-performance spectrum analysis with peak sensitivity of better than $\ensuremath{-}145\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\mathrm{dBm/Hz}$. Attaching a standard rabbit-ears antenna, the spectrum analyzer detects weak ambient signals including FM radio, AM radio, WiFi, and bluetooth. We also demonstrate waveguide-readout of the thermal Rydberg ensemble by nondestructively probing waveguide-atom interactions. The system opens the door for small, room-temperature, ensemble-based Rydberg sensors that surpass the sensitivity, bandwidth, and precision limitations of standard rf sensors, receivers, and analyzers.

DOI
10.1103/physrevapplied.15.014053

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Resonant Structures for Sensitivity Enhancement of Rydberg-Atom Microwave Receivers

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Rydberg atoms at room temperature have been demonstrated as narrowband-sensitive receivers of incident microwave electric fields across MHz to THz frequencies. A comparison to conventional microwave receiver noise temperature suggests that some type of microwave field enhancement is required to make these atomic receivers competitive with or better than their conventional room-temperature electronic counterparts. This article presents a sensitivity analysis appropriate for the comparison of the two fundamentally different types of receivers, which relates the noise-equivalent temperature (NET), noise-equivalent field (NEF), and enhancement factor (F). Several methods for achieving enhancement are presented, and the design and performance of a resonant waveguide cavity method are presented in further detail. The experimental validation is performed at 10.22 GHz with a Rydberg-atom vapor cell enclosed in a$X$-band resonant cavity designed for field uniformity. The Rydberg-atom receiver with no enhancement has a sensitivity of$23~\mu \text{V}$/m$(\mathrm {Hz})^{1/2}$at room temperature. When the resonant cavity is introduced, the sensitivity improves to$1.58~\mu \text{V}$/m$(\mathrm {Hz})^{1/2}$, as predicted by the analysis. This corresponds to an LNA with a noise figure of 42.44 dB before enhancement and 19.23 dB after the enhancement is implemented.

IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques•Feb 6, 2024•44 citations
We demonstrate an atomic rf receiver and spectrum analyzer based on thermal Rydberg atoms coupled to a planar microwave waveguide. We use an off-resonant rf heterodyne technique to achieve continuous operation for carrier frequencies ranging from dc to 20 GHz. The system achieves an intrinsic sensitivity of up to \ensuremath−120(2)\ensuremath{-}120(2)\ensuremath−120(2), dc coupling, 4-MHz instantaneous bandwidth, and over 80 dB of linear dynamic range. By connecting through a low-noise preamplifier, we demonstrate high-performance spectrum analysis with peak sensitivity of better than \ensuremath−145dBm/Hz\ensuremath{-}145\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\mathrm{dBm/Hz}\ensuremath−145dBm/Hz. Attaching a standard rabbit-ears antenna, the spectrum analyzer detects weak ambient signals including FM radio, AM radio, WiFi, and bluetooth. We also demonstrate waveguide-readout of the thermal Rydberg ensemble by nondestructively probing waveguide-atom interactions. The system opens the door for small, room-temperature, ensemble-based Rydberg sensors that surpass the sensitivity, bandwidth, and precision limitations of standard rf sensors, receivers, and analyzers.
The electromagnetic spectrum is limited. As demand increases, our capabilities will be dictated by the sensitivity and agility of RF transmitters, receivers, and networks. For this reason, quantum RF sensors and networks are the key to controlling the spectrum in the tomorrow's competitive landscape. Here, we present a Rydberg-atom based quantum spectrum analyzer that operates continuously from zero to 20 GHz, with sensitivity and instantaneous bandwidth that rivals high-end conventional spectrum analyzers. The spectrum analyzer uses room-temperature Rydberg atoms coupled to an RF waveguide, and input signals are amplified using an off-resonant atomic heterodyne technique. We measure weak ambient signals inside the laboratory including AM/FM radio, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. The quantum spectrum analyzer is characterized by unique capabilities that will allow it, in the near future, to surpass foundational limitations of traditional RF receivers and analyzers.
Atomic heterodyne dressed by a local oscillator resonant with Rydberg transitions allows high sensitivity and robust phase measurement of a microwave electric field, but it is typically limited to detection of discrete frequencies within the narrow bandwidth of Rydberg transitions. Here we demonstrate an atomic heterodyne scheme for continuous-frequency electric field measurement based on multilevel Rydberg atoms in a room-temperature vapor cell. Driven by two off-resonant microwaves acting as a tunable local oscillator field, the heterodyne receiver can retrieve the amplitude, phase, and frequency information of signal microwave in a continuous frequency band. In our experiment, the receiver achieves an electric field sensitivity of up to $1.5\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{V}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{Hz}}^{\ensuremath{-}1/2}$, 80-dB linear dynamic range, and over 1 GHz of continuous frequency range. We also demonstrate the reliable reception of continuously tunable phase-modulated carriers in the digital communication. This work will facilitate the application of atomic heterodyne in the areas such as radar technique, radio monitoring, and radio astronomy.
Rydberg atoms are atoms in their highly excited energy states. The physical properties of Rydberg atoms in the presence of external fields play an important role in quantum precision measurement. In recent years, radio-frequency electric field sensing based on Rydberg atoms has attracted significant interest. It is widely recognized as an electromagnetic sensing system fundamentally different from traditional ones. As a quantum sensor, it is expected to surpass several foundational limitations of traditional receivers, such as sensitivity, dynamic range and frequency bandwidth. It was reported that Rydberg sensing systems can sense microwaves of frequencies from DC up to 1THz. Its quantum nature would possibly avoid internal thermal (Johnson) noise, even at room temperature. Recent demonstrations have also observed high precision for terahertz imaging, strong fields sensing, proof-of-principle communication. However, limitations of this novel system have not been addressed, especially for a practical radar, communication or electronic warfare system. Here in this work, we first compare the architectures of different microwave receivers and then analyze the metrics of Rydberg microwave receivers, such as instantaneous bandwidth and dynamic range based on experimental results. We concluded by pointing out several main obstacles to overcome for realizing a practical state-of-the-art microwave receiver.
Rydberg quantum sensors are sensitive to radio-frequency fields across an ultra-wide frequency range spanning megahertz to terahertz electromagnetic waves resonant with Rydberg atom dipole transitions. Here, we demonstrate an atomic millimeter-wave heterodyne receiver employing continuous-wave lasers stabilized to an optical frequency comb. We characterize the atomic receiver in the W-band at a signal frequency of f = 95.992 512 GHz and demonstrate a sensitivity of 7.9 μV/m/Hz with a linear dynamic range in power greater than 70 dB. We develop frequency selectivity metrics for atomic receivers and demonstrate their use in our millimeter-wave receiver, including signal rejection levels at signal frequency offsets Δf/f = 10−4, 10−5, and 10−6; 3, 6, 9, and 12-dB bandwidths; filter roll-off; and shape factor analysis. Our work represents an important advance toward future studies and applications of atomic receiver science and technology in weak millimeter-wave and high-frequency signal detection.
Studying Rydberg microwave frequency comb (MFC) spectroscopy helps increase the working bandwidth of the Rydberg receiver.This Letter demonstrates off-resonant Rydberg MFC spectroscopy in a meta-waveguide-coupled Rydberg atomic system.An off-resonant MFC field couples with the Rydberg atoms through a meta-waveguide.The system can receive the microwave field in the working band from 0.5 GHz to 13.5 GHz, and the MFC spectroscopy covers a span of 36 MHz at three different arbitrarily-chosen frequencies of 2 GHz, 3 GHz, and 5.8 GHz.The MFC spectrum that covers a wide range of 125 MHz is also verified.This work is significant for tunable wide-band instant microwave signal detection in the Rydberg atomic system, which is useful in microwave frequency metrology, communication, and radar.
Rydberg atoms at room temperature have been demonstrated as narrowband-sensitive receivers of incident microwave electric fields across MHz to THz frequencies. A comparison to conventional microwave receiver noise temperature suggests that some type of microwave field enhancement is required to make these atomic receivers competitive with or better than their conventional room-temperature electronic counterparts. This article presents a sensitivity analysis appropriate for the comparison of the two fundamentally different types of receivers, which relates the noise-equivalent temperature (NET), noise-equivalent field (NEF), and enhancement factor (F). Several methods for achieving enhancement are presented, and the design and performance of a resonant waveguide cavity method are presented in further detail. The experimental validation is performed at 10.22 GHz with a Rydberg-atom vapor cell enclosed in aXXX-band resonant cavity designed for field uniformity. The Rydberg-atom receiver with no enhancement has a sensitivity of23 μV23~\mu \text{V}23 μV/m(Hz)1/2(\mathrm {Hz})^{1/2}(Hz)1/2at room temperature. When the resonant cavity is introduced, the sensitivity improves to1.58 μV1.58~\mu \text{V}1.58 μV/m(Hz)1/2(\mathrm {Hz})^{1/2}(Hz)1/2, as predicted by the analysis. This corresponds to an LNA with a noise figure of 42.44 dB before enhancement and 19.23 dB after the enhancement is implemented.