Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2212.04387 · Applied Physics Letters

A self-locking Rydberg atom electric field sensor

Charles Fancher, Kathryn L. Nicolich, Kelly M. Backes, Neel Malvania, Kevin C. Cox, David H. Meyer, Paul D. Kunz, Joshua C. Hill, William K. Holland, Bonnie L. Schmittberger

Published Feb 27, 2023• 18 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

A crucial step toward enabling real-world applications for quantum sensing devices such as Rydberg atom electric field sensors is reducing their size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) requirements without significantly reducing performance. Laser frequency stabilization is a key part of many quantum sensing devices and, when used for exciting non-ground state atomic transitions, is currently limited to techniques that require either large SWaP-C optical cavities and electronics or use significant optical power solely for frequency stabilization. Here, we describe a laser frequency stabilization technique for exciting non-ground state atomic transitions that solves these challenges and requires only a small amount of additional electronics. We describe the operation, capabilities, and limitations of this frequency stabilization technique and quantitatively characterize its performance. We show experimentally that Rydberg electric field sensors using this technique are capable of data collection while sacrificing only 0.1% of available bandwidth for frequency stabilization of noise up to 900 Hz.

DOI
10.1063/5.0137127

Related papers

Rydberg Atom-Based Sensors: Principles, Recent Advances, and Applications

Dinelka Somaweera, Amer Abdulghani, Ambali Alade Odebowale +7 more

Rydberg atoms are neutral atoms excited to high principal quantum number states, which endows them with exaggerated properties such as large electric dipole moments, long lifetimes, and extreme sensitivity to external electromagnetic fields. These characteristics form the foundation of Rydberg atom-based sensors, an emerging class of quantum devices capable of optically detecting electric fields across frequencies from DC to the terahertz regime. Rydberg-based electrometry operates through both Autler–Townes (AT) splitting of resonant Rydberg transitions and Stark-shift measurements for high-frequency or far-detuned fields, enabling broadband field sensing from DC to the THz regime. Using ladder-type electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and AT splitting, these sensors enable non-invasive, SI-traceable measurements of field amplitude, frequency, phase, and polarization. Recent developments have demonstrated broadband electric field probes, voltage calibration standards, and compact RF receivers based on thermal vapor cells and integrated photonic architectures. Furthermore, innovations in multi-photon EIT, superheterodyne readout, and multi wave mixing have expanded the dynamic range and bandwidth of Rydberg-based electrometry. Despite challenges related to environmental perturbations, linewidth broadening, and laser stabilization, ongoing advances in atomic control, hybrid photonic integration, and EIT-based readout promise scalable, chip-compatible sensors. This review summarizes the physical principles, experimental progress, and emerging applications of Rydberg atom-based sensing, emphasizing their potential for next generation quantum metrology, wireless communication, and precision field mapping.

Photonics•Dec 12, 2025•12 citations

Practical ultra-low frequency noise laser system for quantum sensors

Xue, Shiyu, Mingyong Jing, Hao Zhang +3 more

The laser's frequency noise is crucial to the sensitivity of quantum sensors. Two commonly used methods to suppress the laser's frequency noise are locking the laser to an atomic transition by the lock-in technique or to an ultra-low thermal expansion (ULE) glass cavity by the PDH technique. The former cannot suppress rapidly changing frequency noise and hardly meets the needs; the latter has powerful performance but a heightened cost. The lack of high-performance and low-cost laser noise suppression methods dramatically limits the practical application of quantum sensors. This work demonstrates that, in many quantum sensing applications such as the Rydberg atomic superheterodyne receiver, by cascade locking the laser to both the atomic transition and a low-cost (LC) cavity, the same performance as locking to the ULE cavity can be achieved. This work is significant in promoting the practical application of quantum sensors.

arXiv:2403.12405•Mar 19, 2024•0 citations

Practical ultra-low frequency noise laser system for quantum sensors

Mingyong Jing, Shiyu Xue, Hao Zhang +3 more

The laser’s frequency noise is crucial to the sensitivity of quantum sensors. Two commonly used methods to suppress the laser’s frequency noise are locking the laser to an atomic transition by the lock-in technique or to an ultra-low thermal expansion (ULE) glass cavity by the PDH technique. The former cannot suppress rapidly changing frequency noise and hardly meets the needs; the latter has powerful performance but a heightened cost. The lack of high-performance and low-cost laser noise suppression methods dramatically limits the practical application of quantum sensors. This work demonstrates that, in many quantum sensing applications such as the Rydberg atomic superheterodyne receiver, by cascade locking the laser to both the atomic transition and a low-cost (LC) cavity, the same performance as locking to the ULE cavity can be achieved. This work is significant in promoting the practical application of quantum sensors.

EPJ Quantum Technology•Dec 1, 2024•6 citations

Rydberg Atom Electric Field Sensors for Communications and Sensing

Charles Fancher, David R. Scherer, Marc C. St. John +1 more

Rydberg atom electric field sensors are projected to enable novel capabilities for resilient communications and sensing. This quantum sensor is small-size, highly sensitive, and broadly tunable, and it has the potential for performing precision vector electric field and angle-of-arrival measurements. While these atomic electric field sensors will not replace traditional receivers in commodity applications for RF signal reception, these sensors could be an enabling technology in niche application spaces. This review outlines the principles of operation of atomic electric field sensors and compares their performance capabilities to traditional RF receivers. It also highlights recent research and development efforts in atomic electric field sensing and identifies applications for which these sensors are projected to impact communications and remote sensing.

IEEE Transactions on Quantum Engineering•Jan 1, 2021•170 citations

Electric field sensing via Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency using Zeeman and Stark effects

Y. C. Chen, Shao-Cheng Fang, Hsuan-Jui Su +1 more

Rydberg-assisted atomic electrometry with thermal vapors offers a promising approach for detecting external electric fields. However, this technique presents significant challenges for measuring low frequencies due to the effects of metal-alkali atoms adsorbed on the interior surface of the vacuum chamber. In this work, we apply high-contrast Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) spectroscopy to systematically investigate these effects, including the influence of laser power and electric field strength. We demonstrate the ability to measure electric field frequencies ranging from 10 Hz to 1 MHz. Additionally, this study identifies a fundamental limit for data capacity in such measurements. Furthermore, we propose a method for precise Stark shift measurements by locking the coupling laser to Zeeman-split Rydberg EIT peaks. Using the Zeeman shift in a reference cell as a stable frequency reference, we are able to track Stark-induced shifts in a science cell and confirm excellent agreement with theoretical predictions. These results provide valuable insights for future precision measurement techniques and field sensing applications based on Rydberg atom systems.

arXiv:2402.01430•Journal of Applied Physics•Sep 2, 2025•1 citation

Very sensitive vapor-cell quasi-DC atomic E-field sensor

Amy Damitz, George Burns, Yuan-Yu Jau

We report several technical approaches that significantly improve the performance of a vapor-cell atomic electrometer operating in the quasi-DC frequency domain ($\ll$ 1 kHz). With a very small active volume of approximately 11 mm$^3$ inside the vapor cell, we demonstrated a noise floor for electric field (E-field) sensitivity ranging from 0.2 to 7.7 mV/m$\sqrt{\rm Hz}$ for a frequency band of 1--100 Hz. Our work utilizes only a bare vapor cell for electrometry, without any metal parts or electrodes, to ensure minimal distortion of the measured E-field and to minimize the effective sensing volume for high spatial resolution. The E-field-sensitive atomic state (Rydberg state) is excited and read out optically, maximizing the simplicity of the system design and enabling the miniaturization of quasi-DC E-field sensors for potential applications, such as diagnostics of electronics without physical contact, communications in and below the super-low frequency (SLF) band, proximity detection, remote activity surveillance, tracing charge signatures, and research in bioscience and geoscience.

physics.atom-phCross-listedarXiv:2603.23751•Mar 26, 2026•0 citations
A crucial step toward enabling real-world applications for quantum sensing devices such as Rydberg atom electric field sensors is reducing their size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) requirements without significantly reducing performance. Laser frequency stabilization is a key part of many quantum sensing devices and, when used for exciting non-ground state atomic transitions, is currently limited to techniques that require either large SWaP-C optical cavities and electronics or use significant optical power solely for frequency stabilization. Here, we describe a laser frequency stabilization technique for exciting non-ground state atomic transitions that solves these challenges and requires only a small amount of additional electronics. We describe the operation, capabilities, and limitations of this frequency stabilization technique and quantitatively characterize its performance. We show experimentally that Rydberg electric field sensors using this technique are capable of data collection while sacrificing only 0.1% of available bandwidth for frequency stabilization of noise up to 900 Hz.
Rydberg atoms are neutral atoms excited to high principal quantum number states, which endows them with exaggerated properties such as large electric dipole moments, long lifetimes, and extreme sensitivity to external electromagnetic fields. These characteristics form the foundation of Rydberg atom-based sensors, an emerging class of quantum devices capable of optically detecting electric fields across frequencies from DC to the terahertz regime. Rydberg-based electrometry operates through both Autler–Townes (AT) splitting of resonant Rydberg transitions and Stark-shift measurements for high-frequency or far-detuned fields, enabling broadband field sensing from DC to the THz regime. Using ladder-type electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and AT splitting, these sensors enable non-invasive, SI-traceable measurements of field amplitude, frequency, phase, and polarization. Recent developments have demonstrated broadband electric field probes, voltage calibration standards, and compact RF receivers based on thermal vapor cells and integrated photonic architectures. Furthermore, innovations in multi-photon EIT, superheterodyne readout, and multi wave mixing have expanded the dynamic range and bandwidth of Rydberg-based electrometry. Despite challenges related to environmental perturbations, linewidth broadening, and laser stabilization, ongoing advances in atomic control, hybrid photonic integration, and EIT-based readout promise scalable, chip-compatible sensors. This review summarizes the physical principles, experimental progress, and emerging applications of Rydberg atom-based sensing, emphasizing their potential for next generation quantum metrology, wireless communication, and precision field mapping.
The laser's frequency noise is crucial to the sensitivity of quantum sensors. Two commonly used methods to suppress the laser's frequency noise are locking the laser to an atomic transition by the lock-in technique or to an ultra-low thermal expansion (ULE) glass cavity by the PDH technique. The former cannot suppress rapidly changing frequency noise and hardly meets the needs; the latter has powerful performance but a heightened cost. The lack of high-performance and low-cost laser noise suppression methods dramatically limits the practical application of quantum sensors. This work demonstrates that, in many quantum sensing applications such as the Rydberg atomic superheterodyne receiver, by cascade locking the laser to both the atomic transition and a low-cost (LC) cavity, the same performance as locking to the ULE cavity can be achieved. This work is significant in promoting the practical application of quantum sensors.
The laser’s frequency noise is crucial to the sensitivity of quantum sensors. Two commonly used methods to suppress the laser’s frequency noise are locking the laser to an atomic transition by the lock-in technique or to an ultra-low thermal expansion (ULE) glass cavity by the PDH technique. The former cannot suppress rapidly changing frequency noise and hardly meets the needs; the latter has powerful performance but a heightened cost. The lack of high-performance and low-cost laser noise suppression methods dramatically limits the practical application of quantum sensors. This work demonstrates that, in many quantum sensing applications such as the Rydberg atomic superheterodyne receiver, by cascade locking the laser to both the atomic transition and a low-cost (LC) cavity, the same performance as locking to the ULE cavity can be achieved. This work is significant in promoting the practical application of quantum sensors.
Rydberg atom electric field sensors are projected to enable novel capabilities for resilient communications and sensing. This quantum sensor is small-size, highly sensitive, and broadly tunable, and it has the potential for performing precision vector electric field and angle-of-arrival measurements. While these atomic electric field sensors will not replace traditional receivers in commodity applications for RF signal reception, these sensors could be an enabling technology in niche application spaces. This review outlines the principles of operation of atomic electric field sensors and compares their performance capabilities to traditional RF receivers. It also highlights recent research and development efforts in atomic electric field sensing and identifies applications for which these sensors are projected to impact communications and remote sensing.
Rydberg-assisted atomic electrometry with thermal vapors offers a promising approach for detecting external electric fields. However, this technique presents significant challenges for measuring low frequencies due to the effects of metal-alkali atoms adsorbed on the interior surface of the vacuum chamber. In this work, we apply high-contrast Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) spectroscopy to systematically investigate these effects, including the influence of laser power and electric field strength. We demonstrate the ability to measure electric field frequencies ranging from 10 Hz to 1 MHz. Additionally, this study identifies a fundamental limit for data capacity in such measurements. Furthermore, we propose a method for precise Stark shift measurements by locking the coupling laser to Zeeman-split Rydberg EIT peaks. Using the Zeeman shift in a reference cell as a stable frequency reference, we are able to track Stark-induced shifts in a science cell and confirm excellent agreement with theoretical predictions. These results provide valuable insights for future precision measurement techniques and field sensing applications based on Rydberg atom systems.
We report several technical approaches that significantly improve the performance of a vapor-cell atomic electrometer operating in the quasi-DC frequency domain (≪\ll≪ 1 kHz). With a very small active volume of approximately 11 mm3^33 inside the vapor cell, we demonstrated a noise floor for electric field (E-field) sensitivity ranging from 0.2 to 7.7 mV/mHz\sqrt{\rm Hz}Hz​ for a frequency band of 1--100 Hz. Our work utilizes only a bare vapor cell for electrometry, without any metal parts or electrodes, to ensure minimal distortion of the measured E-field and to minimize the effective sensing volume for high spatial resolution. The E-field-sensitive atomic state (Rydberg state) is excited and read out optically, maximizing the simplicity of the system design and enabling the miniaturization of quasi-DC E-field sensors for potential applications, such as diagnostics of electronics without physical contact, communications in and below the super-low frequency (SLF) band, proximity detection, remote activity surveillance, tracing charge signatures, and research in bioscience and geoscience.