Abstract Partial discharge (PD) detection has garnered considerable attention due to its critical role in condition assessment and fault prediction of power system equipment. However, efficient and accurate acquisition of PD signals remains a significant technical challenge. Among mainstream technologies, the ultra-high frequency (UHF) detection method plays a key role in capturing PD signals. This work introduces a Rydberg atom-based electric field sensing approach for PD detection, employing a three-photon excitation scheme in cesium vapor. Four representative PD types are investigated: void, floating, particle, and corona, revealing the ability of the nonmetallic atomic sensor to capture their distinct time-domain characteristics and periodic behaviors at the power frequency. In addition, an antenna–waveguide–vapor cell coupling configuration is proposed. This electro-optical to opto-electronic conversion mechanism allows the sensor to achieve long-range detection while preserving favorable signal-to-noise ratios. Although the sensor’s limited instantaneous bandwidth leads to pulse broadening in high-speed signals, its theoretical high sensitivity and wide operating bandwidth highlight its potential as a complement to traditional metal-antenna solutions. These findings provide a robust foundation for implementing quantum-enhanced PD monitoring in practical power engineering scenarios.
Abstract Partial discharge (PD) detection has garnered considerable attention due to its critical role in condition assessment and fault prediction of power system equipment. However, efficient and accurate acquisition of PD signals remains a significant technical challenge. Among mainstream technologies, the ultra-high frequency (UHF) detection method plays a key role in capturing PD signals. This work introduces a Rydberg atom-based electric field sensing approach for PD detection, employing a three-photon excitation scheme in cesium vapor. Four representative PD types are investigated: void, floating, particle, and corona, revealing the ability of the nonmetallic atomic sensor to capture their distinct time-domain characteristics and periodic behaviors at the power frequency. In addition, an antenna–waveguide–vapor cell coupling configuration is proposed. This electro-optical to opto-electronic conversion mechanism allows the sensor to achieve long-range detection while preserving favorable signal-to-noise ratios. Although the sensor’s limited instantaneous bandwidth leads to pulse broadening in high-speed signals, its theoretical high sensitivity and wide operating bandwidth highlight its potential as a complement to traditional metal-antenna solutions. These findings provide a robust foundation for implementing quantum-enhanced PD monitoring in practical power engineering scenarios.
Accurate detection of internal partial discharge (PD) in gas-insulated switchgear (GIS), a core component of modern power systems, is crucial for assessing insulation condition, ensuring equipment reliability, and maintaining power grid stability. However, the practical application of traditional ultra-high frequency (UHF) electromagnetic sensors in GIS condition-based maintenance faces significant limitations, including severe signal attenuation (20～40 dB/m) caused by the metal enclosure, the risk of SF6 leakage due to compromised airtightness with window-based installation, and a limited dynamic range (60～80 dB) insufficient for covering the full range of discharge magnitudes. To overcome these technical bottlenecks, this paper innovatively proposes a quantum-based UHF electric field sensing method utilizing the Rydberg atomic electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) effect. The core advantages of this method lie in: leveraging the extremely high electric polarizability of highly excited cesium atoms (n=72D5/2) to achieve intrinsically safe measurement through an optical readout mechanism; establishing a stable EIT window using a dual-frequency laser system (852 nm probe light and 509 nm pump light) combined with precise frequency-locking technology; and designing a non-metallic atomic vapor cell antenna to realize the first near-field sensing of transient pulse electric fields in the 0.5～3 GHz band excited by particle discharge within GIS. This research demonstrates the capability of Rydberg atomic sensing technology to effectively detect discharges from a typical GIS defect (metal particles) for the first time. By employing quantum precision measurement, it provides a novel optical fiber sensing solution characterized by high sensitivity, broadband capability, and intrinsic safety for the online insulation monitoring of power equipment. This approach holds significant promise for advancing condition-based maintenance towards intelligent and precise evolution, offering key supporting technologies for the development of smart grids.
Partial discharge originates from microscopic insulation imperfections in high-voltage apparatus and is widely considered a critical marker of incipient deterioration. Conventional partial discharge detection methods are typically constrained by limited bandwidth and often rely on predefined feature extraction, which impedes reliable recognition of broadband transient signals. In this work, we employ a Rydberg atomic sensor to directly capture time-domain responses of partial discharge emissions and construct distinctive spectral fingerprints for different types. A 1D ResNet deep learning model is then applied to recognize these fingerprints from time-domain signals without manual feature engineering. Under increased source-antenna distances, where spectral features are significantly attenuated, the model attains a recognition accuracy of approximately 94\% across four partial discharge categories, demonstrating robustness to attenuation and noise. We further validate the approach in a simulated early-warning scenario, where partial discharge signals mixed with noise are analyzed and the model successfully generates predictive alarms. These results underscore the potential of integrating Rydberg-based broadband sensing with data-driven analysis for non-invasive, high-sensitivity diagnostics of electrical insulation systems.
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.
Detection of long-wavelength signal is of importance for diverse sensing and communication applications. Conventional metal antennas are limited in this regime, particularly when compactness and high sensitivity are both required. Despite intrinsic advantages for electric-field sensing across an ultra-broad range from DC to terahertz, Rydberg atoms still face challenges in practical long-wavelength signal detection, motivating the development of more sensitive and scalable approaches. In this work, we experimentally show that such a signal acting on the Rydberg state can be converted into a polarization variation of the probe laser, and realize signal extraction by appropriately utilizing the polarization degrees of freedom. Based on such a mechanism, we further design and implement a quantum weak measurement scheme, which clearly suppresses the technical noise and leads to considerable improvement of performance. Evaluation of the sensitivities across different post-selection angles demonstrates that the weak measurement results agree well with the theoretical model predictions. The advantages of our method are analyzed from multiple aspects, including characterizing the responses over different frequencies and comparing the responses of the weak measurement scheme and the traditional transmission-based method. After accounting for the screening effect of a measured ratio of 17% where the Rb 87 atoms experience a substantially reduced field inside the glass cell, the performance reaches 33 μV cm −1 Hz −1/2 in sensitivity and 1.0 μV cm −1 in minimal detectable field for an integration time of 1000 s, as perceived by the atoms.
Abstract Developing microwave electric field sensing based on Rydberg atoms has received significant attention due to its unique advantages. However, achieving effective coupling between Rydberg atoms and the microwave electric field in the sensing process is a challenging problem that greatly impacts the sensitivity. To address this, we propose using a microwave resonant cavity to enhance the effective coupling between the Rydberg atoms and the microwave electric field. In our experiment, Rydberg atoms are prepared via a three-photon excitation scheme, and the electric fields are measured without and with a microwave cavity in which the vapor cell is placed inside, respectively. As a result, we achieved an 18 dB enhancement of power sensitivity by adding the cavity, which is an effective enhancement in electric field pulse signal detection. This experimental testing provides a promising direction for enhancing the sensitivity of Rydberg atomic electric field sensors and paves the way for their application in precision electric field measurements.
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 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.