688307 event 1771333772 1771333945 <![CDATA[Sensing low frequency electric fields with a Rydberg beam]]> Paul Kunz serves as Chief of the Quantum Science & Technology Branch within DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory (ARL). The Branch researches the physics and applications of optically coupled quantum systems, including sensors of electric and magnetic fields, clocks, and information processing units based on neutral atoms, trapped ions, and solid-state color centers. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder for his thesis work on laser-cooled atomic clocks, and subsequently joined ARL where he initiated experiments on Rydberg-vapor sensors and cold-atom quantum memories. In 2021 he started the ARL South quantum research group at the University of Texas at Austin, where he holds an adjunct faculty position within the Physics department’s Center for Complex Quantum Systems.

]]> 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)

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