Imaging electric fields in the vicinity of cryogenic surfaces using Rydberg atoms

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method using Rydberg atoms to map static and dynamic electric fields near cryogenic surfaces, aiding quantum experiments involving atoms and superconducting circuits.

Contribution

The authors develop a novel technique employing Rydberg-Stark spectroscopy to measure stray electric fields and microwave fields close to cryogenic surfaces with high spatial resolution.

Findings

Successfully mapped stray electric fields within 2 mm of superconducting surfaces.

Demonstrated the technique's ability to characterize microwave field distributions.

Validated the method by analyzing fields from a structured superconducting surface.

Abstract

The ability to characterize static and time-dependent electric fields in situ is an important prerequisite for quantum-optics experiments with atoms close to surfaces. Especially in experiments which aim at coupling Rydberg atoms to the near field of superconducting circuits, the identification and subsequent elimination of sources of stray fields is crucial. We present a technique that allows the determination of stray-electric-field distributions $(F^\text{str}_\text{x}(\vec{r}),F^\text{str}_\text{y}(\vec{r}),F^\text{str}_\text{z}(\vec{r}))$ at distances of less than $2~\text{mm}$ from (cryogenic) surfaces using coherent Rydberg-Stark spectroscopy in a pulsed supersonic beam of metastable $1\text{s}^12\text{s}^1~{}^{1}S_{0}$ helium atoms. We demonstrate the capabilities of this technique by characterizing the electric stray field emanating from a structured superconducting surface. Exploiting coherent population transfer with microwave radiation from a coplanar waveguide, the same technique allows the characterization of the microwave-field distribution above the surface.