A Photonic Crystal Receiver for Rydberg Atom-Based Sensing

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel photonic crystal vapor cell with integrated dielectric structures that amplifies radio frequency signals, significantly enhancing the sensitivity of Rydberg atom-based sensors for electromagnetic field detection.

Contribution

The work presents a passive, all-dielectric amplifier integrated into a Rydberg atom sensor vapor cell, achieving ~24 dB power amplification through photonic crystal engineering.

Findings

Achieved ~24 dB power amplification of RF signals.

Enhanced interaction between RF field and atoms via adiabatic coupling.

Demonstrated utility of vapor cell engineering for quantum sensing.

Abstract

Rydberg atom-based sensors use atoms dressed by lasers to detect and measure radio frequency electromagnetic fields. The absorptive properties of the atomic gas, configured as a Rydberg atom-based sensor, change in the presence of a radio frequency electromagnetic field. While these sensors are reasonably sensitive, the best conventional radio frequency sensors still outperform Rydberg atom-based sensors with respect to sensitivity. One approach to increase the sensitivity of Rydberg atom-based sensors is to engineer the vapor cell that contains the atomic gas. In this work, we introduce a passive, all-dielectric amplifier integrated into a Rydberg atom-based sensor vapor cell. The vapor cell is a combination of a slot waveguide and a photonic crystal. The structural features of the vapor cell yield a power amplification of ~24 dB. The radio frequency electromagnetic field is coupled adiabatically into the slot waveguide and slowed to increase the interaction between the radio frequency field and the atoms to effectively amplify the incoming signal, i.e., increase the Rabi frequency on the radio frequency transition. The work shows the utility of vapor cell engineering for atom-based quantum technologies and paves the way for other such devices.