RF-dressed Rydberg atoms in hollow-core fibres

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the use of hollow-core photonic crystal fibres to study RF-dressed Rydberg atoms, revealing narrow spectral features at frequencies up to 500 MHz, which could enable miniaturized electro-optical devices.

Contribution

It introduces a novel system combining Rydberg atoms with hollow-core fibres for RF modulation studies, enabling low-voltage operation and potential device miniaturization.

Findings

Narrow spectral features observed up to 500 MHz RF frequency.

System enables low-voltage RF modulation of Rydberg atoms.

Potential for miniaturized electro-optical devices using this setup.

Abstract

The giant electro-optical response of Rydberg atoms manifests itself in the emergence of sidebands in the Rydberg excitation spectrum if the atom is exposed to a radio-frequency (RF) electric field. Here we report on the study of RF-dressed Rydberg atoms inside hollow-core photonic crystal fibres (HC-PCF), a system that enables the use of low modulation voltages and offers the prospect of miniaturised vapour-based electro-optical devices. Narrow spectroscopic features caused by the RF field are observed for modulation frequencies up to 500 MHz.