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Applied Optics

Influence of the size of the cubic atomic vapor cell on a Rydberg atomic microwave sensor

Liting Zhang, Zhonghao Li, Shuai Liu, Shihong Xu, Jingxia Kong, Rui Zhao, Hao Guo, Huanfei Wen, Xin Li, Zongmin Ma, Jun Tang, Jun Liu

Published Nov 7, 2024• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

This study investigates the enhancement of the microwave (MW) electric (E) field due to the Fabry-Perot (FP) effect in cubic cells of varying sizes, and it is confirmed that the lower limit of MW power can be measured. Theoretical simulations and empirical validations are conducted for three vapor cells of different sizes. At a MW frequency of 23.904 GHz, the FP effect in the 10 mm cell is found to significantly enhance the MW E-field relative to larger cells (20 and 25 mm). The results show that, due to the existence of the FP effect, the lower limit of MW power can be measured in the cubic atomic vapor cells with different sizes. These findings contribute to the advancement of the vapor cell design for quantum accuracy measurements and the development of future atomic MW communication technologies.

DOI
10.1364/ao.542721

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This study investigates the enhancement of the microwave (MW) electric (E) field due to the Fabry-Perot (FP) effect in cubic cells of varying sizes, and it is confirmed that the lower limit of MW power can be measured. Theoretical simulations and empirical validations are conducted for three vapor cells of different sizes. At a MW frequency of 23.904 GHz, the FP effect in the 10 mm cell is found to significantly enhance the MW E-field relative to larger cells (20 and 25 mm). The results show that, due to the existence of the FP effect, the lower limit of MW power can be measured in the cubic atomic vapor cells with different sizes. These findings contribute to the advancement of the vapor cell design for quantum accuracy measurements and the development of future atomic MW communication technologies.
The geometry effect of a vapor cell on the metrology of a microwave electric field is investigated. Based on the splitting of the electromagnetically induced transparency spectra of cesium Rydberg atoms in a vapor cell, high-resolution spatial distribution of the microwave electric field strength is achieved for both a cubic cell and a cylinder cell. The spatial distribution of the microwave field strength in two dimensions is measured with sub-wavelength resolution. The experimental results show that the shape of a vapor cell has a significant influence on the abnormal spatial distribution because of the Fabry–Pérot effect inside a vapor cell. A theoretical simulation is obtained for different vapor cell wall thicknesses and shows that a restricted wall thickness results in a measurement fluctuation smaller than 3% at the center of the vapor cell.
Rydberg atom-based sensors represent a cutting-edge technology for highly sensitive radio-frequency (RF) electric field detection. Their performance is strongly influenced by the atomic vapor cell's characteristics, which significantly affect the internal field distribution and consequently the sensor's sensitivity. This research examines how relative permittivity, wall thickness, and cell dimensions impact the electric field distribution. Motivated by the growing demand for broadband communication and high-frequency technologies in next-generation systems, the 1-30 GHz frequency range is selected as the operational bandwidth. Results reveal that the resonance frequency of the dielectric cell—determined by its dimensions, relative permittivity, and wall thickness—plays a crucial role in the internal field distribution, making the conventional cell-dimension-to-wavelength ratio alone insufficient for predicting field behavior. Beyond the resonance frequency, field distortion and non-uniformity decrease even as the cell-dimension- to-wavelength ratio increases. Contrary to expectations, reducing cell size does not uniformly diminish field distortion and can significantly enhance the internal field within specific frequency bands. While variations in relative permittivity and wall thickness have a limited effect on the internal field at lower frequencies, these parameters exert a substantial influence near resonance and can even lead to field enhancement, particularly at the cell center. These findings demonstrate that through optimized cell design, the internal field can be engineered to achieve either uniform distributions for high-accuracy metrology or enhanced fields for weak-signal detection. This study provides practical guidelines for developing next-generation quantum RF sensors, communication systems, and radar technologies.
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Rydberg atom-based microwave (MW) atomic receiver is regarded as a promising atomic receiver to surpass the sensitivity of conventional receivers. This article proposes a tunable Fabry-Perot (FP) cavity that locally enhances the MW electric (E) field to improve measurement sensitivities. This FP cavity includes a 0.9947 reflection coefficient periodic metal slit structure and a reflective plate. In our experiment, 21-dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) enhancement is achieved by utilizing the FP cavity. Ultimately, the atomic receiver loaded with a FP cavity provides a sensitivity of$ \mathbf {5 \mathbf {nv/cm/\sqrt {Hz}}}@8.57GHzthatisthemostadvancedsensitivityknownbasedon@8.57 GHz that is the most advanced sensitivity known based on@8.57GHzthatisthemostadvancedsensitivityknownbasedon\mathbf {^{133}\textrm {Cs}}resonanttransitionresonant transitionresonanttransition\mathbf {|44D_{5/2}\rangle \rightarrow |45P_{3/2}\rangle }$. Since the FP cavity is different from the traditional closed cavity and split-ring resonance mechanism, a large enhancement tunable frequency bandwidth of 4.8–12.2 GHz can be achieved by adjusting the plate spacing. In addition, the FP cavity solves the direct coupling between the electromagnetic wave and the resonator in the X-band, which provides mobility and flexibility. We take all the vapor cell wall’s refractive index and metal reflections into account as the resonance-based system is more sensitive to errors.
In this letter, the preparation and verification of disturbance-reduction small (5 mm×5\times 5×5mm×5\times 5×5mm) vapor cells for broadband microwave detection with Rydberg atoms have been realized. Based on the simulation of the microwave electric field distribution without and with cells, the cubic cells with different sizes have been designed and completed. Then, the preparation of small vapor cells with different sizes was realized by high-temperature bonding technology. The detection of broadband microwave from 1.318 to 37.059 GHz was accomplished by changing vapor cells with different sizes, which involved 10 Rydberg states. Finally, the effectiveness of the disturbance reduction of the small vapor cell is verified by analyzing the disturbance of the microwave electric field with different frequencies. All of the results provide an effective technical reference for the implementation and application of broadband and miniaturized atomic microwave field meters.
An atom-based approach is presented to detect absolute microwave (MW) electric fields (E-fields). The approach uses Rydberg atoms in vapor cells at room temperature. The MW E-field measurements utilize a bright resonance prepared within an electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) window. The large transition dipole moments between energetically adjacent Rydberg states enable this method to make traceable E-field measurements with a sensitivity that is several orders of magnitude higher than the current standard for MW E-field measurements. The method can be used to image MW E-field in the near field regime with a subwavelength resolution of mathrmlambdaMW/650\\mathrm{\\lambda_{MW}/650}mathrmlambdaMW​/650, where mathrmlambdaMW\\mathrm{\\lambda_{MW}}mathrmlambdaMW​ is the wavelength of the MW E-field. A high accuracy of $\\mathrm{1\\%}$ has been reached by minimizing the effects of the vapor cell geometry on the measured MW E-field. The dissertation also presents an alternative technique to perform the MW E-field measurement using dispersive properties of the EIT spectrum with a prism vapor cell. Recently, we applied a homodyne detection technique with a Mach Zehnder interferometer to achieve a new sensitivity limit for the MW E-field measurement, mathrmsim3 muVcm−1Hz−1/2\\mathrm{\\sim3~\\mu Vcm^{-1}Hz^{-1/2}}mathrmsim3 muVcm−1Hz−1/2. The new sensitivity is one order of magnitude better than our prior best sensitivity presented in Ref. [Nat. Phys. 8, 819 (2012)]. The Rydberg atom-based method is promising to be a new standard for MW E-field measurements and to develop into portable devices in the field of MW technologies.