Frequency and intensity readouts of micro-wave electric field using Rydberg atoms with Doppler effects

Abstract

A scheme of electric-field measurement of micro-waves is proposed in Rydberg atoms with Doppler effects. A cascade-type electromagnetically-induced-transparency (EIT) system is disturbed by a perturbative field coupling a metastable transition. The original dark state splits and two EIT window appear with a central absorption peak. When a micro-wave (MW) field couples the Rydberg transition, the central absorption peak is divided into two. The frequency splitting of two central peaks is proportional to the MW field intensity, which can be used to probe MW electric field strength. This frequency-readout method based on a double-dark state system increases the probe sensitivity nearly by a factor of 7, compared with that of the single-dark state case. At room temperature, Doppler effects can enhance the absorption spectrum, moreover, its peak value varies linearly with the MW field strength. This can also serve to measure MW electric field strength. Numerical results show that the latter intensity-readout method after Doppler averaging improves the probe sensitivity by a factor of 10 with respect to the case without Doppler effects.