Chip-Scale Rydberg Atomic Electrometer

TL;DR

This paper introduces a chip-scale Rydberg atomic electrometer with significantly reduced field disturbance and enhanced spectral features, achieved through innovative fabrication techniques, promising improved precision in electric field measurement.

Contribution

The work presents a novel fabrication method combining femtosecond laser writing and optical contact to create a non-invasive, chip-scale vapor cell with lower radar cross-section and observed sub-Doppler spectral narrowing.

Findings

Radar cross-section reduced by 20 dB compared to commercial cells

Observation of sub-Doppler spectral narrowing phenomenon

Development of a non-invasive atomic electrometer suitable for metrology

Abstract

An ideal electrometer should measure electric fields accurately while causing minimal disturbance to the field itself. Rydberg atomic electrometers are promising candidates for ideal electrometry due to their SI traceability and non-invasive nature. However, in practice, the atomic vapor cell shell can distort the electric field, limiting the device's performance. In this work, we overcome this challenge by fabricating a chip-scale vapor cell using a novel combination of femtosecond laser writing and optical contact. This method enables the development of a non-invasive atomic electrometer with a radar cross-section (RCS) 20 dB lower than that of commercial atomic cell-based electrometers. Furthermore, we observe a new sub-Doppler spectral narrowing phenomenon in these chip-scale cells. The effect originates from an incoherent, collision-driven mechanism--hereafter referred to as incoherent Dicke narrowing (ICDN). This advancement supports future revisions to the international system of units and broadens applications in metrology and quantum measurement.