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IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing Workshops (ICASSPW)

Towards Rydberg Atom Synthetic Apertures: Wide-Area High-Resolution RF Amplitude and Phase Imaging With Rydberg Probes

David Alexander Anderson, Luís F. Gonçalves, Remy Legaie, Georg A. Raithel

Published Jun 4, 2023• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

We present on the recent development of an atomic antenna probe and front-end based on Rydberg atoms for applications in radio-frequency (RF) imaging and synthetic apertures. Fundamental atom-RF responses and RF amplitude and phase determination methods for Rydberg atom probes are described. We demonstrate electric field imaging in the near-field of a 2.5 GHz Yagi-Uda antenna device under test (DUT) using a portable Rydberg atom probe and integrated front-end, the Rydberg Field Probe (RFP). A wide-area RF electric field map is generated by positioning of the RFP at discrete spatial measurement locations in the near field of the DUT, from which a composite image of the two-dimensional antenna pattern is realized at a spatial resolution of $\lambda /2$ and field uncertainties within 5.5%. Finally, we demonstrate RF phase imaging of a 100 GHz field using a Rydberg EIT optical fluorescence imager and RF self-homodyning, towards RF phase-sensing and imaging at millimeter-wave frequencies.

DOI
10.1109/icasspw59220.2023.10193017

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arXiv:1910.07970•IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine•Apr 1, 2020•85 citations
We present on the recent development of an atomic antenna probe and front-end based on Rydberg atoms for applications in radio-frequency (RF) imaging and synthetic apertures. Fundamental atom-RF responses and RF amplitude and phase determination methods for Rydberg atom probes are described. We demonstrate electric field imaging in the near-field of a 2.5 GHz Yagi-Uda antenna device under test (DUT) using a portable Rydberg atom probe and integrated front-end, the Rydberg Field Probe (RFP). A wide-area RF electric field map is generated by positioning of the RFP at discrete spatial measurement locations in the near field of the DUT, from which a composite image of the two-dimensional antenna pattern is realized at a spatial resolution of λ/2\lambda /2λ/2 and field uncertainties within 5.5%. Finally, we demonstrate RF phase imaging of a 100 GHz field using a Rydberg EIT optical fluorescence imager and RF self-homodyning, towards RF phase-sensing and imaging at millimeter-wave frequencies.
Rydberg atoms show great promise for use as self-calibrated electric field sensors for a broad range of frequencies. Their response is traceable to the international system of units making them a valuable tool for a variety of applications including traceable channel sounding. The Rydberg atom sensor is an electrically small point probe. Its detection volume is defined by the overlap of probing and coupling lasers, which can be as small as hundreds of microns. We present measurements of the beam-formed output of a horn antenna in the far field at 28 GHz. We move a Rydberg atom sensor over a synthetic aperture to obtain high angular resolution of the received signal and employ electromagnetic induced transparency with AC stark shifting and a local oscillator signal radiated onto the atoms for magnitude and phase detection at each location in the area. These results demonstrate the use of these Rydberg atom sensors in a synthetic aperture configuration and inform their eventual use for traceable channel sounding measurements.
Atomic sensing and electric field measurements based on the use of the all-optical electromagnetic induction transparency (EIT) spectrum of Rydberg atoms have attracted great interest due to the advantages of self-calibration, Le Système International d'unités traceability, and a broadband spectrum. At the same time, this methodology also promotes the development of atomic sensor technology. We present a novel high-efficiency Rydberg-atom radio-frequency (RF) electric (E) field integrated probe (Rydberg Field Probe or RFP). The high-efficiency RFP consists of a 10 mm cubic 133Cs vapor cell, a dichroic mirror, three collimating lenses, and three fibers. This system can be used to independently control two counterpropagating lasers passing through a vapor cell, easing the design effort. In addition, the overall system efficiency can reach a value of 40.4%, reducing the EIT power broadening doe conventional RFPs. Based on the designed high-efficiency RFP, near-field electric field measurement and imaging of a C-band horn antenna at 4.48 GHz are performed by using the resonant RF field of the 133Cs atomic Rydberg state at room temperature with a spatial resolution of λ/6. These results promote the development of atomic sensing technology and show great application potential for the measurement of measuring high-resolution radio frequency electric fields and arrays of RFPs.
Measurements of radio-frequency (RF) electric fields using atomic sensors based on quantum-optical spectroscopy of Rydberg states in vapors has garnered significant interest in recent years for the establishment of atomic standards for RF electric fields and towards the development of novel RF sensing instrumentation. Here we describe recent work employing atomic sensors for sub-wavelength near-field imaging of a Ku- band horn antenna. We demonstrate near-field imaging capability at a spatial resolution of λ/10 and measurements over a 72 to 240 V/m field range using off-resonance AC-Stark shifts of a Rydberg-atom resonance. A fiber-coupled atomic-sensor probe is also employed in far-field measurements of a WR-90 standard gain horn.
An antenna is a key component of E-field signal pickup. However, an antenna has major limitations due to the metal-based probes, the geometry it carries, and the use of metal transmission lines; this can lead to perturbations or disturbance of the fields which limits the precision for field sensing. Rydberg atoms such as Cesium (Cs) or Rubidium (Rb) are utilized for Rydberg sensing. This can be utilized over a large range of frequencies from DC MHz and THz upto (>100 GHz) to measure amplitude, polarization, power, phase, and Angle-of-Arrival of RF Efield. Rydberg sensor detection scheme provides a multitude of applications, including far field characterization using near field or subwavelength imaging, strong RF E-field measurements, weak field detections, mapping of microwave circuitry, Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK), Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) and Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) signals, metrology, and radars. Recently, practical RF E-field probes such as the RFP and movable probe have been prototyped for application specific RF sensing and measurement needs, further, antenna and waveguide embedded Rydberg sensors have also been developed. Few limitations in the Rydberg sensing scheme are due to lasers, EIT line-width, earth magnetic effects, photodiode circuit noise, and vapor cell in-homogeneity. The purpose of the review is to brief about the thematic work done across the Rydberg atom domain and its applications as RF E-field sensors. The findings of this review indicate the advantages and applications of Rydberg atom sensing as well as the gaps and uncertainties the scheme carries.
In this presentation, we discuss a fundamentally new approach for an electric (E) field probe design. This new approach is significantly different than currently used field probes in that it is based on the interaction of RF-fields with Rydberg atoms (alkali atoms placed in a glass vapor cell are excited optically to Rydberg states). The applied RF-field alters the resonant state of the atoms. The Rydberg atoms act like an RF-to-optical transducer, converting an RF E-field to an optical-frequency response. The RF probe utilizes the concept of Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT). The RF transition in the four-level atomic system causes a split of the EIT transmission spectrum for a probe laser. This splitting is easily measured and is directly proportional to the applied RF field amplitude. The significant dipole response of Rydberg atoms enables this technique to make self-calibrating measurements over a large frequency band including 1-500 GHz. In this paper, we report on our results in the development of this probe. We also discuss two key applications: that is, self-calibrated measurements and sub-wavelength imaging and field mapping.
We report on the development of detection methods for amplitude and phase of pulsed radio-frequency (RF) electromagnetic fields with Rydberg atoms. We begin with an overview of the basic principles of Rydberg-atom-based sensing and measurement of RF electromagnetic fields. An overview of the underlying atomic physics and the method for amplitude as well as phase sensing of electromagnetic radiation with Rydberg atoms is provided. Atomic RF receivers using Rydberg atoms for analog and digital communications and sensing of modulated RF fields are discussed. Detection of pulse-modulated RF and time-domain RF pulse waveform imaging with a Rydberg-atom receiver are demonstrated. The transient response of the Rydberg-atom vapor to a modulated RF field is observed at the 10-nanosecond level, from which a new lower limit to the achievable instantaneous signal bandwidth of atomic RF receivers is established. Finally, we present and describe a new method to measure the phase of an RF field implemented to not require an RF reference wave. The method employs phase-coherent excitation pathways involving the optical fields in the atomic sensing medium with the signal RF field. The optical RF phase-sensing approach lends itself to the realization of atomic RF sensors, measurement and imaging devices that are relevant to applications in RF communications and sensing.