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Optics Express

Magnetically tuned single-Zeeman-sublevel Rydberg EIT of a 87 Rb 38F state for resonant L-band microwave electric field sensing

Yuqing Liu, Jianan Zhang, Yu-Xiang Wang, Jiong Mei, Feng-Dong Jia, Kui-Yi Gao, Wei-Wei Zhu, Zhiping Zhong

Published Dec 8, 2025• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report the Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) spectra of the 87 Rb 5 S 1/2 → 5 P 3/2 → 5 D 5/2 → 38 F 7/2 transition in a vapor cell with a DC magnetic field and demonstrate its use for tunable, resonant L-band microwave electric field detection via the Autler-Townes (AT) splitting. Compared to conventional two-photon Rydberg excitation, three-photon EIT exhibits a markedly richer and more intricate spectral structure resulting from extra transition pathways under a DC magnetic field. Under copropagating linearly-polarized optical fields and a static magnetic field, we resolve as many as eight distinct EIT peaks and extract their linear Zeeman-shift coefficients. The measured Zeeman-shifts are all in agreement with the predictions of a simple analytical equation. More interestingly, we demonstrate a single-Zeeman-sublevel Rydberg excitation using three-photon EIT with circular light fields and a quantization axis. We subsequently exploit single-Zeeman-sublevel Rydberg-EIT at the low principal quantum number n = 38 to perform a tunable, resonant EIT–AT measurement of 1.5 GHz (L-band) microwave electric fields. The observed characteristics confirm that L-band microwave measurement via three-photon excited low- n F Rydberg states is advantageous by avoiding the autoionization and high laser power demands of two-photon excited high- n Rydberg states.

DOI
10.1364/oe.583439

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Acta Physica Sinica•Jan 1, 2018•14 citations
We report the Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) spectra of the 87 Rb 5 S 1/2 → 5 P 3/2 → 5 D 5/2 → 38 F 7/2 transition in a vapor cell with a DC magnetic field and demonstrate its use for tunable, resonant L-band microwave electric field detection via the Autler-Townes (AT) splitting. Compared to conventional two-photon Rydberg excitation, three-photon EIT exhibits a markedly richer and more intricate spectral structure resulting from extra transition pathways under a DC magnetic field. Under copropagating linearly-polarized optical fields and a static magnetic field, we resolve as many as eight distinct EIT peaks and extract their linear Zeeman-shift coefficients. The measured Zeeman-shifts are all in agreement with the predictions of a simple analytical equation. More interestingly, we demonstrate a single-Zeeman-sublevel Rydberg excitation using three-photon EIT with circular light fields and a quantization axis. We subsequently exploit single-Zeeman-sublevel Rydberg-EIT at the low principal quantum number n = 38 to perform a tunable, resonant EIT–AT measurement of 1.5 GHz (L-band) microwave electric fields. The observed characteristics confirm that L-band microwave measurement via three-photon excited low- n F Rydberg states is advantageous by avoiding the autoionization and high laser power demands of two-photon excited high- n Rydberg states.
We theoretically and experimentally investigate the Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and Autler-Townes (AT) splitting of 87 Rb vapor under the combined influence of a magnetic field and a microwave field. In the presence of static magnetic field, the effect of the microwave field leads to the dressing and splitting of each m F state, resulting in multiple spectral peaks in the EIT-AT spectrum. A simplified analytical formula was developed to explain the EIT-AT spectrum in a static magnetic field, and the theoretical calculations agree qualitatively with experimental results. The Rydberg atom microwave electric field sensor performance was enhanced by making use of the splitting interval between the two maximum absolute m F states separated by the static magnetic field, which was attributed to the stronger Clebsch-Gordon coefficients between the extreme m F states and the frequency detuning of the microwave electric field under the static magnetic field. The traceable measurement limit of weak electric field by EIT-AT splitting method was extended by an order of magnitude, which is promising for precise microwave electric field measurement.
Magnetic-field-induced splitting of Rydberg Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT) and Autler-Townes (AT) spectra in 87^{87}87Rb vapor cell
We theoretically and experimentally investigate the Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and Autler-Townes (AT) splitting of 87^{87}87Rb vapor under the combined influence of a magnetic field and a microwave field. In the presence of static magnetic field, the effect of the microwave field leads to the dressing and splitting of each mFm_FmF​ state, resulting in multiple spectral peaks in the EIT-AT spectrum. A simplified analytical formula was developed to explain the EIT-AT spectrum in a static magnetic field, and the calculations are in excellent agreement with experimental results.We further studied the enhancement of the Rydberg atom microwave electric field sensor performance by making use of the splitting interval between the two maximum absolute mFm_FmF​ states under static magnetic field. The traceable measurement limit of weak electric field by EIT-AT splitting method was extended by an order of magnitude, which is promising for precise microwave electric field measurement.
We provide the simultaneous traceable measurements of microwave electric fields at two different frequencies by the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and Autler–Townes (AT) splitting. A static magnetic field working together with a linearly polarized probe and coupling light prepares Rydberg atoms in Zeeman sublevels with maximal |mJ| in an atomic vapor cell. Using the EIT-AT splitting of these two maximal |mJ| states, the microwave electric fields at two different frequencies are simultaneously measured, in which their frequency difference can be adjustable within the linear range of magnetic field-induced level shifts. The proposed method provides a promising prospect for calibrating multiple microwave frequencies simultaneously in the future.
We present an atom-based approach for determining microwave electric and magnetic fields by using a single rubidium vapor cell in a microwave waveguide. For a 87Rb cascade three-level system employed in our experiment, a weak probe laser driving the lower transition, 5S1/2→5P3/2, is first used to measure the microwave magnetic field based on the atomic Rabi resonance. When a counter-propagating strong coupling laser is subsequently turned on to drive the Rydberg transition, 5P3/2→67D5/2, the same probe laser is then used as a Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) probe to measure the microwave electric field by investigating the resonant microwave dressed Autler-Townes splitting (ATS). By tuning the hyperfine transition frequency of the ground state using an experimentally feasible static magnetic field, we first achieved a measurement of the microwave electric and magnetic field strength at the same microwave frequency of 6.916 GHz. Based on the ideal relationship between the electric and magnetic field components, we obtained the equivalent microwave magnetic fields by fitting the inversion to the measured microwave electric fields, which demonstrated that the results were in agreement with the experimental measurement of the microwave magnetic fields in the same microwave power range. This study provides new experimental evidence for quantum-based microwave measurements of electric and magnetic fields by a single sensor in the same system.
We present experimental results on the influence of magnetic fields and laser polarization on electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) using Rydberg levels of ^{87} 87 Rb atoms. The measurements are performed in a room temperature vapor cell with two counter-propagating laser beams at 480 m and 780 m in a ladder-type energy level scheme. We measure the EIT spectrum of a range of ns_{1/2} n s 1 / 2 Rydberg states for n=19-27 n = 19 − 27 , where the hyperfine structure can still be resolved. Our measurements span the range of magnetic fields from the low field linear Zeeman regime to the high field Paschen-Back regimes. The observed spectra are very sensitive to small changes in magnetic fields and the polarization of the laser beams. We model our observations using optical Bloch equations that take into account the full multi-level structure of the atomic states involved and the decoupling of the electronic J J and nuclear I I angular momenta in the Breit-Rabi regime. The numerical model yields excellent agreement with the observations. In addition to EIT related experiments, our results are relevant for experiments involving coherent excitation to Rydberg levels in the presence of magnetic fields.
We present an electromagnetically induced transparency and Aulter-Townes (EIT-AT) spectrum of a Rydberg three-level atom that is dressed with a microwave field in a room-temperature cesium cell. The EIT is a quantum coherent effect produced by the interaction of atoms with electromagnetic waves, which leads to the decrease of the absorption for a weak resonant probe laser. AT splitting refers to the phenomenon, that the absorption line splits when an electromagnetic field that is in resonance or near resonance acts on the transition of atoms. Rydberg atoms are extremely sensitive to an external electric field due to their large polarizabilities and microwave transition dipole moments, which can be used to measure the external field. In this work, a Rydberg three-level EIT is used to detect Rydberg atom and AT splitting induced by the microwave field. Cesium levels 6S1/2, 6P3/2 and 50S1/2 constitute a Rydberg three-level system, in which a weak probe laser locking to the transition from 6S1/2 to 6P3/2 couples ground-state transition and the strong coupling laser resonates on the Rydberg transition from 6P2/3 to 50S1/2. The two Rydberg levels 50S1/2 and 50P1/2 are coupled with the microwave field at a frequency of 30.852 GHz, leading to the AT splitting of EIT line and forming an EIT-AT spectrum, which is used to measure the electric field amplitude of microwave. In order to further study the EIT-AT splitting characteristics of the Rydberg levels, we carry out a series of measurements by changing the microwave field. The experimental results show a broadened EIT-AT signal for the weak field range and the four-peak spectrum for the strong field, which is attributed to the inhomogeneity of the microwave field. The microwave in cesium cell, emitted by a function generator, shows inhomogeneous behavior such that the atoms interacting with the laser field experience the different fields, leading to the line broadened and multi-peak EIT-AT spectra. For the microwave transition of nS1/2-nP1/2 in this paper, a pair of EIT-AT lines should be obtained for an electric field value. The broadening of the EIT-AT spectrum and the multi-peak structure here are due to the inhomogeneity of the microwave field measurement. We propose a method to increase the spatial resolution by reducing the length of cesium cell. The result in this work provides a method of measuring the field amplitude and monitoring the distribution of microwave electric field, meanwhile the spatial resolution of the measurements can be improved by reducing the size of the cell.