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International Conference on Optical Communications and Networks (ICOCN)

Study of the Rydberg atom cell sensitivity on the incoherent detection method

Ruijian Rao, J. Wu, Xuan He, Yang Pei

Published Aug 12, 2022• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The Rydberg atom cell sensitivity on the incoherent detection microwave is analyzed as the probe laser noise is considered. First, the probe laser noise transfer characteristic is theoretically derived. Second, the minimum detectable microwave electric field intensity is obtained by simulation at different signal noise ratio of the input probe laser. These simulation results suggest that the microwave detection sensitivity of the Rydberg atom cell can be improved by two ways. One is to increase the input probe laser signal noise ratio. The other one is to decrease the Rabi frequency of the coupling laser. As the coupling Rabi frequency$\Omega_{c}=2\times 10^{8}\left(rad/s\right)$and the probe signal to noise ratio is 20.5dB, the minimum detectable microwave electric field intensity is$1.976 (\mu V/\text{cm})$.

DOI
10.1109/icocn55511.2022.9901154

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The Rydberg atom cell sensitivity on the incoherent detection microwave is analyzed as the probe laser noise is considered. First, the probe laser noise transfer characteristic is theoretically derived. Second, the minimum detectable microwave electric field intensity is obtained by simulation at different signal noise ratio of the input probe laser. These simulation results suggest that the microwave detection sensitivity of the Rydberg atom cell can be improved by two ways. One is to increase the input probe laser signal noise ratio. The other one is to decrease the Rabi frequency of the coupling laser. As the coupling Rabi frequencyΩc=2×108(rad/s)\Omega_{c}=2\times 10^{8}\left(rad/s\right)Ωc​=2×108(rad/s)and the probe signal to noise ratio is 20.5dB, the minimum detectable microwave electric field intensity is1.976(μV/cm)1.976 (\mu V/\text{cm})1.976(μV/cm).
Rydberg atom, which exhibits a strong response to weak electric fields, is regarded as a promising atomic receiver to surpass the sensitivity of conventional receivers. However, its sensitivity is strongly limited by the noise coming from both classical and quantum levels, and how to enhance it significantly remains challenging. In theory, we aim to optimize the laser array, highlighting the importance of coherence among microwave signals and the uniformity of laser beam power within the array, to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and elevate sensitivity to a new standard. To enhance practical application mobility and integration, we propose two optimization schemes: a six-port fiber-coupled vapor cell probe array and cascaded diffraction gratings. We maintain steady MW signal coherence in the laser array by using identical vapor cells and positioning the probe lasers on the incident wave’s equal phase plane. Our findings reveal that the wavefront phase difference for the six-port fiber-coupled vapor cell array is 10°, while the cascaded diffraction gratings show a 16° difference, with laser intensity uniformity reaching 90.4%. In our experiment, a 4.6-dB SNR enhancement was achieved by utilizing the cascaded diffraction gratings to generate2×22 \times 22×2probe laser arrays compared to the performance of a laser beam, which can be enhanced further just by adding more laser beams. In particular, a2×22 \times 22×2laser array experimental verification yielded19 nv/cm/Hz19~\text {nv/cm}/\sqrt {\textrm {Hz}}19 nv/cm/Hz​@8.57 GHz. More importantly, the intermediate signals of the laser array maintain coherence. Therefore, SNR improvement is allowed even in detecting weak target signals amid strong noise and clutter. The results could offer an avenue for the design and optimization of ultrahigh-sensitivity Rydberg atomic receivers and promote applications in cosmology, meteorology, communication, and MW quantum technology.
Measurement sensitivity is crucial for the practical application of Rydberg atomic microwave superheterodyne receiver systems in communication, radar, and navigation. Based on laser-atom-microwave interaction mechanisms, the influence of laser powers and local-oscillator (LO) microwave field intensity on measurement sensitivity is systematically studied in this paper. Measurement sensitivity is analyzed through electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) spectral characteristics, specifically EIT amplitude and full-width-half-maximum (FWHM),larger amplitudes and narrower FWHM indicate improved signal-to-noise ratios. For a 60D-state Rydberg atomic system with fixed probe and coupling laser beam waists (800 µm and 875 µm), optimal parameters are determined: probe laser power of 60 µW(Rabi frequency: 2π×7.02 MHz), coupling laser power of 40 mW (Rabi frequency: 2π×0.66 MHz), and LO microwave Rabi frequency of 2π×8.34 MHz. Experimental results demonstrate a 4.6 dB sensitivity enhancement, advancing from −137.5dBm/Hz to −142.1 dBm/Hz at 3.21 GHz microwave field. This improvement is attributed to precise alignment of laser-atom and microwave-atom interactions, bridging the gap toward quantum sensitivity limits.
Atoms form the basis of precise measurement for many quantities (time, acceleration, rotation, magnetic field, etc.). Measurements of microwave frequency electric fields by traditional methods (i.e. engineered antennas) have limited sensitivity and can be difficult to calibrate properly. Highly-excited (Rydberg) neutral atoms have very large electric-dipole moments and many dipole allowed transitions in the range of 1 - 500 GHz. It is possible to sensitively probe the electric field in this range using the combination of two quantum interference phenomena: electromagnetically induced transparency and the Autler-Townes effect. This technique allows for very sensitive field amplitude, polarization, and sub-wavelength imaging measurements. These quantities can be extracted by measuring properties of a probe laser beam as it passes through a warm rubidium vapor cell. Thus far, Rydberg microwave electrometry has relied upon the absorption of the probe laser. We report on our use of polarization rotation, which corresponds to the real part of the susceptibility, for measuring the properties of microwave frequency electric fields. Our simulations show that when a magnetic field is present and directed along the optical propagation direction a polarization rotation signal exists and can be used for microwave electrometry. One central advantage in using the polarization rotation signal rather than the absorption signal is that common mode laser noise is naturally eliminated leading to a potentially dramatic increase in signal-to-noise ratio.
High-sensitivity measurements of the microwave electric field are important in applications of communication and metrology. The sensitivity of traditional Rydberg superheterodyne receivers in free space is effectively determined by the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), which is often considered equivalent to sensitivity in practical sensing applications. In this work, we demonstrate a cavity-enhanced receiver, where an optical cavity significantly amplifies the interaction between the probe light and cesium atoms, which substantially improves the signal-to-noise ratio via enhancing the expansion coefficient κ . Here, κ is the edge slope of the single peak obtained by fitting the double-peak EIT-AT spectrum, characterizing the response of the probe light to the frequency detuning of the coupling laser. The sensitivity is thus boosted by a factor of approximately 19 dB. This study highlights the pivotal role of optical cavities in advancing Rydberg-based detection systems, offering a promising approach for high-sensitivity microwave electric field measurements.
Rydberg atoms have large transition electric dipole moments and high sensitivity to electric fields. We describe a new method for microwave field sensing in a vapor cell consisting of separate excitation, quantum evolution between two Rydberg levels in the dark and state-dependent detection with probe laser transmission. Using microwave pulse techniques we study homogeneous and inhomogeneous relaxation of the coherence between Rydberg levels and demonstrate detection of a 10 GHz signal with electric field sensitivity of 10 nV/cm/Hz1/2^{1/2}1/2.
We have shown that Rydberg states can be used for high-sensitivity, absolute sensing of microwave (MW) electric fields. We achieved a sensitivity of 3 μVcm-1Hz-1/2 for two read-out strategies. Depending on the spectral resolution of the read-out, either the MW induced transmission line frequency splitting, the Autler-Townes regime, or a change in the on-resonant absorption, the amplitude regime, can be used to determine the MW electric field. Results using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and frequency modulated spectroscopy both achieve similar photon shot noise limited sensitivity. In addition, we have also explored amplitude modulation and the displacement of a probe laser beam due to index of refraction changes in a prism shaped vapor cell. These latter methods were not able to achieve photon shot noise limited performance. Fundamental limits to the sensitivity of the Rydberg atom-based MW electric field sensing have been addressed, but it is important to clarify the differences between noise in different parts or subsystems of the sensor. Shot noise in the probe laser usually dominates the projection noise of the atoms participating in the measurement of the MW electric field because of the desire to operate at low effective Rydberg atom densities in order to avoid collisional dephasing and ionization.