Multichannel, ultra-wideband Rydberg Electrometry with an Optical Frequency Comb

TL;DR

This paper introduces a multichannel, wideband Rydberg atom electrometry technique using an optical frequency comb, enabling simultaneous detection across 1 GHz to 40 GHz and enhancing the potential for advanced signal processing.

Contribution

The authors demonstrate a novel method employing a mid-infrared optical frequency comb to enable multichannel, wideband Rydberg electrometry across a broad frequency range.

Findings

Simultaneous preparation of up to seven Rydberg states.

Detection capability from 1 GHz to 40 GHz.

Potential for advanced information coding and signal detection.

Abstract

While Rydberg atoms have shown tremendous potential to serve as accurate and sensitive detectors of microwaves and millimeter waves, their response is generally limited to a single narrow frequency band around a chosen microwave transition. As a result, their potential to serve as agile and wideband electromagnetic receivers has not been fully realized. Here we demonstrate the use of a mid-infrared, frequency agile optical frequency comb as the coupling laser for three-photon Rydberg atom electrometry. This approach allows us to simultaneously prepare as many as seven individual Rydberg states, allowing for multichannel detection across a frequency range from 1 GHz to 40 GHz. The generality and flexibility of this method for wideband multiplexing is anticipated to have transformative effects in the field of Rydberg electrometry, paving the way for advanced information coding and arbitrary signal detection.