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Optics Express

Broadband microwave electric field measurement based on a planar dipole antenna as the local oscillator source

Jiwang Chai, Guixiang Liu, Muhan Zhang, Yingyun Zhang, Guangtai Xue, Chunsheng Xu, Junfeng Zhu, Shunli Han

Published Jul 21, 2025• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

We propose a superheterodyne microwave electric field measurement scheme based on Rydberg atoms that utilizes a planar dipole antenna as the local oscillator source. By designing a two-dimensional asymmetric dipole antenna, broadband microwave near-field radiation is achieved in the region of 1.7 GHz-9 GHz with return loss less than −10 dB, and the feasibility of using a planar antenna as the local oscillator source has been verified through simulations and experiments. In the experiments, high-sensitivity electric field measurements are performed by using near-field radiation from the planar antenna as local oscillator field for three resonant frequencies, 3.999 GHz, 5.048 GHz, and 7.981 GHz, with an optimal sensitivity of 3.16 µV/cm/Hz1/2. Comparative experiments with a horn antenna as the local oscillator source show that the planar antenna can achieve equivalent measurement sensitivity. Continuous-frequency electric field measurements are also investigated with a planar antenna in the frequency range of 2.5 GHz-9 GHz, and a minimum detectable field strength ranging from 3.16 µV/cm to 25.95 µV/cm is achieved. Our findings provide an alternative design approach for compact superheterodyne Rydberg atomic sensors.

DOI
10.1364/oe.565370

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We propose a superheterodyne microwave electric field measurement scheme based on Rydberg atoms that utilizes a planar dipole antenna as the local oscillator source. By designing a two-dimensional asymmetric dipole antenna, broadband microwave near-field radiation is achieved in the region of 1.7 GHz-9 GHz with return loss less than −10 dB, and the feasibility of using a planar antenna as the local oscillator source has been verified through simulations and experiments. In the experiments, high-sensitivity electric field measurements are performed by using near-field radiation from the planar antenna as local oscillator field for three resonant frequencies, 3.999 GHz, 5.048 GHz, and 7.981 GHz, with an optimal sensitivity of 3.16 µV/cm/Hz1/2. Comparative experiments with a horn antenna as the local oscillator source show that the planar antenna can achieve equivalent measurement sensitivity. Continuous-frequency electric field measurements are also investigated with a planar antenna in the frequency range of 2.5 GHz-9 GHz, and a minimum detectable field strength ranging from 3.16 µV/cm to 25.95 µV/cm is achieved. Our findings provide an alternative design approach for compact superheterodyne Rydberg atomic sensors.
Abstract Ultra-wideband, miniaturized, and integrable local oscillator sources remain a key challenge for Rydberg-atom superheterodyne receivers. Here we demonstrate a 1–40 GHz Rydberg-atom receiver that uses a 76.3-mm-long, 1.6-mm-thick microstrip balun as the local oscillator. A load terminating the output port is used to enhance the balun near field and enable efficient coupling to the atoms. High-sensitivity electric field measurements based on the microstrip balun local oscillator are experimentally demonstrated at 9.94 and 19.63 GHz, achieving a lowest tested field of 0.79 and 0.49 µV/cm, respectively, compared with 0.40 and 0.39 µV/cm for a horn-antenna local oscillator. By combining resonant and off-resonant superheterodyne measurements across nine Rydberg transitions, we further demonstrate continuous-frequency electric field measurements from 1 to 40 GHz. These results establish the microstrip balun as a compact, broadband local oscillator source for integrated atomic receivers.
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.
We demonstrate a method for broadband tunable continuous frequency electric field measurement based on the DC Stark effect in Rydberg atoms. In our experiment, we place a pair of parallel electrode plates inside the atomic vapor cell, utilizing the DC Stark effect to induce splitting and shifting of the Rydberg energy levels, thereby altering the resonance frequency of the Stark subpeaks. By employing the 52D5/2 Rydberg state, we achieve electric field measurements in the frequency range of 5.083–14.470 GHz. At an EDC of 3.45 V/cm and a resonant microwave frequency of 14.470 GHz, using heterodyne technology, the microwave electric field sensitivity is 538.89 μV/cm/√Hz, with a linear dynamic range of 23 dB. In comparison, a Rydberg heterodyne receiver with an EDC of 0 V/cm and a resonant microwave frequency of 5.083 GHz has a sensitivity of 5.43 μV/cm/√Hz and a linear dynamic range of 51 dB. This work will promote the study of atomic microwave receivers in continuous microwave frequency measurement.
We present a Rydberg atom-based microwave electric field sensor that achieves extended dynamic range and enhanced sensitivity across a broad bandwidth. By characterizing the Autler-Townes (AT) splitting induced by a single-tone microwave field, we demonstrate a spectroscopic method that simultaneously extracts both the microwave frequency and electric field strength directly from the splitting pattern. We implement dual-tone heterodyne detection, achieving a minimum detectable field strength on the order of uV/cm and a sensitivity in the sub-uV/cm/Hz^1/2 regime, while extending the operational bandwidth up to 3 GHz. Through systematic characterization of frequency and power dependencies, we identify optimal operating conditions to minimize power broadening in the resonant AT regime and maximize sensitivity in the far-off-resonance AC Stark regime. The resulting platform combines high sensitivity, broad bandwidth, and a dynamic range of approximately 90 dB, establishing Rydberg atoms as practical sensors for precision electric field metrology.
We present enhanced sensing of radio frequency (RF) electric fields (E-fields) by the combined polarizability of Rydberg atoms and the optimized local oscillator (LO) fields of supergheterodyne receiving. Our modified theoretical model reveals the dependencies of sensitivity of E-field amplitude measurement on the polarizability of Rydberg states and the strength of the LO RF field. The enhanced sensitivity of megahertz(MHz) E-field are demonstrated at an 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 0.96 μV/cm/Hzμ\rm V/cm/\sqrt{Hz}μV/cm/Hz​ that is about an order of magnitude higher than those already published. This result closely approaches the theoretical sensitivity limit of RF dipole antennas, and indicates the potential for breaking the limit in measuring sub-MHz E-fields. This atomic sensor based on Rydberg Stark effect with heterodyne technique is expected to boost an alternative solution to electric dipole antennas.
We demonstrate a continuously tunable electric field measurement based on the far off-resonant AC stark effect in a Rydberg atomic vapor cell. In this configuration, a strong far off-resonant field, denoted as a local oscillator (LO) field, acts as a gain to shift the Rydberg level to a high sensitivity region. An incident weak signal field with a few hundreds of kHz difference from the LO field is mixed with the LO field in the Rydberg system to generate an intermediate frequency signal, which is read out by Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (Rydberg-EIT) spectroscopy. Not like resonant EIT-Autler–Townes spectra, we realize the electric field measurement of the signal frequency from 2 to 5 GHz using a single Rydberg state. The detectable field strength is down to 2.25 μV/cm with sensitivity of the electrometry 712 nV cm−1 Hz−1/2, and a linear dynamic range is over 65 dB. The detectable field strength is comparable with a resonant microwave-dressed Rydberg heterodyne receiver using the same system, which is 0.96 μV/cm with sensitivity of 304 nV cm–1 Hz−1/2. We also show the system has an inherent polarization selectivity feature. Our method can provide high sensitivity of electric field measurement and be extended to arbitrary frequency measurements.