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EPJ Quantum Technology

Local oscillator port embedded field enhancement resonator for Rydberg atomic heterodyne technique

Kai Yang, Ruiqi Mao, Li He, Jiawei Yao, Jianbing Li, Zhanshan Sun, Yunqi Fu

Published Jun 26, 2023• 27 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract Rydberg atom-based sensors using the atomic heterodyne technique demonstrate prominent performance on sensing sensitivity and thus have significant potential for radar, electronic reconnaissance, and communication applications. Here, we propose a local oscillator (LO) embedded field enhancement resonator to improve the sensitivity and integration of Rydberg atomic heterodyne sensors. In this approach, a vapor cell filled with cesium atoms is placed into the resonance structure for electric (E) field measurements. By integrating parallel-plate waveguide (PPWG) antennas and the resonator, the LO signal can be directly guided to the resonator using coaxial cable instead of the use of external antennas radiating through free space, allowing for a more flexible and practical Rydberg atom-based heterodyne technique. Based on the off-resonant Rydberg atomic heterodyne approach, for a radio frequency (RF) signal at 638 MHz, it is found that the sensitivity is 43 μ V/cm $\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ Hz in the absence of the resonator, while in the presence of our resonator, the sensitivity is down to 854.36 nV/cm $\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ Hz , indicating 50 times or 34 dB improvement capacity of the proposed resonator. This type of enhancement resonator is expected to benefit Rydberg atomic heterodyne applications in practical environments.

DOI
10.1140/epjqt/s40507-023-00179-w

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IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation•Aug 13, 2025•9 citations
Abstract Rydberg atom-based sensors using the atomic heterodyne technique demonstrate prominent performance on sensing sensitivity and thus have significant potential for radar, electronic reconnaissance, and communication applications. Here, we propose a local oscillator (LO) embedded field enhancement resonator to improve the sensitivity and integration of Rydberg atomic heterodyne sensors. In this approach, a vapor cell filled with cesium atoms is placed into the resonance structure for electric (E) field measurements. By integrating parallel-plate waveguide (PPWG) antennas and the resonator, the LO signal can be directly guided to the resonator using coaxial cable instead of the use of external antennas radiating through free space, allowing for a more flexible and practical Rydberg atom-based heterodyne technique. Based on the off-resonant Rydberg atomic heterodyne approach, for a radio frequency (RF) signal at 638 MHz, it is found that the sensitivity is 43 μ V/cm Hz\sqrt{\text{Hz}}Hz​ Hz in the absence of the resonator, while in the presence of our resonator, the sensitivity is down to 854.36 nV/cm Hz\sqrt{\text{Hz}}Hz​ Hz , indicating 50 times or 34 dB improvement capacity of the proposed resonator. This type of enhancement resonator is expected to benefit Rydberg atomic heterodyne applications in practical environments.
The Rydberg atomic heterodyne technique and resonant structures represent two prominent approaches that can notably enhance the sensing sensitivity of Rydberg atomic receivers in the atomic and microwave domains, respectively. However, current implementations exhibit low levels of integration, particularly in the VHF band. This article introduces local oscillator (LO) port-integrated resonators (LOIRs) to synergize these methods, aiming to improve sensitivity and system integration in Rydberg atom-based receivers. Through an analysis of the electric field distribution in the split-ring resonator (SRR), we developed two types of LOIRs: the standing wave type LOIR (SIR) and the traveling wave type LOIR (TIR). Experimental investigations were conducted at 264 MHz using a vapor cell containing cesium atoms in the resonators. Spectral measurements indicate that the SIR and TIR provide enhancement factors of 45.8 and 45.3 dB, respectively. When employing the SIR and TIR for Rydberg atomic heterodyning, sensitivity significantly improved to 104.34 and 105.54 (nV/cm)/Hz\sqrt {\text {Hz}}Hz​, respectively. Furthermore, in comparison to the SRR setup in the atomic heterodyne scenario, the LO power consumption decreased to 22.4% and 3.7% with the SIR and TIR, respectively. This research represents a significant advancement toward the practical application of Rydberg atomic receivers.
Abstract Rydberg atom-based superheterodyne with additional local oscillator (LO) signal is a novel approach to detect electric field with high measured sensitivity. However, the LO signal is often supplied to the atomic vapor cell by free-space illumination, which lacks mobility and integration for practical applications. Here, we present a LO port integrated split-ring resonator for realizing high sensitivity-enhanced electric field measurements. The LO signal is sent directly to the resonator through a parallel-plate waveguide, which is shown to achieve a sensitivity enhancement of 32 dB. The integrated resonator has an electrical size of 0.088λ and the feed port S11 reaches −38.2 dB.
Highly sensitive detection of VHF band fields poses a challenge for Rydberg atomic sensing since resonant detection requires exciting atoms to extremely high energy states. We demonstrate a PCB-based electrically tunable resonator (PETR) for enhancing the sensing sensitivity of the Rydberg atomic sensor to VHF band fields. In this approach, the sub-wavelength PETR is made of PCB, which offers improved mechanical strength and miniaturization. During the measurements, a parallel-plate waveguide is utilized as the radio frequency (RF) fields launcher to eliminate unintentional scattering from the surroundings. By adjusting the bias voltage applied to the tuning varactor of the PETR, we can continuously tune the resonant frequencies from 187 MHz to 293.6 MHz, corresponding to a relative bandwidth of 44%. There is a fluctuation in the enhancement factor of the PETR, ranging from 17.6 to 60.1, which is primarily caused by misalignment between the laser beam and the resonant area. Furthermore, employing the off-resonant Rydberg atomic heterodyne technique, we investigated the sensitivity of the system. In the absence of the PETR, the sensitivity for a RF signal at 250.5 MHz was found to be 24.36 μV/cm√Hz. However, with the presence of our PETR, the sensitivity significantly improved to 433.26 nV/cm√Hz, indicating a remarkable enhancement capacity of 56.23 times or 35 dB. This enhancement resonator holds great potential for improving Rydberg atomic sensing, particularly in the VHF band.
We present enhanced sensing of a radio frequency (RF) electric field (E-field) by the combined polarizability of Rydberg atoms and the optimized local oscillator (LO) field of a superheterodyne receiver. Our modified theoretical model reveals the dependencies of the sensitivity of E-field amplitude measurement on the polarizability of Rydberg states and the strength of the LO field. The enhanced sensitivities of the megahertz (MHz) E-field are demonstrated at the optimal LO field for three different Rydberg states 43D5/2{\rm 43D}_{5/2}43D5/2​, 60S1/2{\rm 60S}_{1/2}60S1/2​, and 90S1/2{\rm 90S}_{1/2}90S1/2​. The sensitivity of 63 MHz for the 90S1/2{\rm 90S}_{1/2}90S1/2​ state reaches 9.6 ×10−5 V/m/Hz\times 10^{-5}\rm \,V/m/\sqrt {Hz}×10−5V/m/Hz​, which is approximately an order of magnitude higher than those already published. This result closely approaches the sensitivity limit of a 1 cm passive dipole antenna without using an impedance matching network. This atomic sensor based on the Rydberg Stark effect with heterodyne technique is expected to boost an alternative solution to electric dipole antennas.
Rydberg atom-based microwave electric field sensing has attracted growing interest owing to its inherent advantages, such as absolute calibration, wideband operability, and compatibility with room-temperature devices. A critical bottleneck that limits sensitivity is the inefficient coupling between the Rydberg atoms and the incident microwave field, particularly when detecting weak signals propagating in free space. Here we propose and experimentally validate a scheme that integrates a horn antenna with a resonant microwave cavity to significantly improve this coupling for free-space signal reception in the S-band. Using a two-photon excitation scheme in a cesium vapor cell, we systematically characterize the sensing performance under three configurations: a bare cell, direct cavity injection, and a cavity coupled to a horn antenna that captures free-space microwave signals over a 1 m distance. In the antenna-coupled cavity configuration, we achieve an optimal sensitivity of 2.33 nV/cm/Hz\sqrt{\text{Hz}}Hz​ at the receiving antenna, which corresponds to an enhancement of approximately 17.9 dB compared to the optimized bare vapor cell configuration. Our findings offer a practical and effective route to boost the sensitivity of Rydberg atomic sensors, facilitating their adoption in real-world microwave metrology and wireless communication applications where weak free-space electric fields must be reliably measured.
High-sensitivity amplitude and frequency detection of microwave electric fields is of significant importance in various fields, including communications, microwave quantum technology, aerospace, medicine, and meteorology. Rydberg atom-based sensors promise traceable standards and high sensitivity for detecting weak electric fields and enhancing sensing sensitivity, mainly by using superheterodyne technology and resonant structures. Detecting high-frequency (HF) band fields with high sensitivity using Rydberg atom sensors is a significant challenge due to the requirement of exciting atoms to extremely high energy states for resonant detection. We demonstrate the off-resonant Rydberg atomic superheterodyne architecture with additional resonators for greatly enhancing the sensing sensitivity to HF band fields. In this approach, we propose a miniaturized square spiral resonator with an electrical size of$0.011~\lambda $at 15.54 MHz. To reduce the electric-field-screening effect of the adsorption of alkali metal atoms, we use a monocrystalline sapphire cesium (Cs) vapor cell. By utilizing the off-resonant alternating current (ac) Stark effect, the initial sensitivity of the Rydberg atom sensor without the resonator is measured to be10.39 μV/cmHz10.39~\mu \text {V/cm}\sqrt {\text {Hz}}10.39 μV/cmHz​at room temperature. With the addition of the miniaturized square spiral resonator, the sensitivity significantly improved to2.60 nV/cmHz2.60~\text {nV/cm}\sqrt {\text {Hz}}2.60 nV/cmHz​, which has been inaccessible so far with atomic sensors. Here, we provide an enhancement of 72 dB, which is three orders of magnitude improvement in sensitivity than when the resonator is not used. This enhancement resonator extends Rydberg atomic high-sensitivity sensing to the HF band and shows great potential, especially in shortwave radio reception.