For example, separate groups have reported sensitivities of approximately 10 µV/cm/ at the low frequency of 250 Hz [1], and 0.004 µV/cm/ at 13 GHz [2], and at high frequencies of 1 THz field strengths of 10 mV/cm have been measured in 3 ms [3]. Moreover, a single Rydberg sensor can simultaneously detect signals at these disparate frequencies [4], something that is not practical for traditional sensor technology. Yet we know that Rydberg sensors are capable of even better sensitivity. While these previous Rydberg sensing results relied on laser spectroscopy readout techniques, I will describe our recent experiment that uses an alternate approach. We create a beam of Rydberg atoms, and readout using highly efficient ion detection. This has allowed us to improve upon the previous best low-frequency electric field sensitivity, achieving 2 µV/cm/ at 250 Hz and better than 10 µV/cm/ down to frequencies as low as 20 Hz.

[1] Y.-Y. Jau and T. Carter, Phys. Rev. Appl. 13, 054034 (2020)

[2] S. Borówka,…, M. Parniak, Nat. Photon. 18, 32–38 (2024)

[3] S. Chen, …, K. Weatherill, Optica 9, 485-491 (2022)

[4] D. Meyer, et al., Phys. Rev. Applied 19, 014025 (2023)