Sensitivity enhancement of far-detuned RF field sensing based on Rydberg atoms dressed by a near-resonant RF field.

Abstract

Rydberg-atom electrometers promise traceable standards for RF electrometry by enabling stable and uniform measurement. In this Letter, we propose an approach to increase the sensitivity of the Rydberg-atom electrometer for far-detuned RF field sensing. The key physical mechanism is the addition of a new ingredient-a local RF field near-resonant with a Rydberg transition-so that the far-detuned field can be detected by the shift of an Autler-Townes (AT) splitting peak, which can be dozens of times larger than the AC Stark shift of the electromagnetic induced transparency (EIT) signal without the near-resonant field. The method enables us to measure far-detuned fields with higher sensitivities, including sub-GHz RF fields (even DC electric fields) which are rarely involved in the existing sensitivity enhancement methods.