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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.04670 |
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| _version_ | 1866909644784402432 |
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| author | Elgee, Peter K. Cox, Kevin C. Hill, Joshua C. Kunz, Paul D. Meyer, David H. |
| author_facet | Elgee, Peter K. Cox, Kevin C. Hill, Joshua C. Kunz, Paul D. Meyer, David H. |
| contents | We present an electrically-small Rydberg atom electric field sensor with the ability to extract the three-dimensional $k$-vector of an elliptically polarized radio frequency (rf) field. In most mediums, the $k$-vector (or wave vector) provides the direction of propagation of an electromagnetic wave. Our method uses a field vector measurement at a single point in space and is thus compatible with a sensor volume that is arbitrarily small compared to the carrier wavelength. We measure the $k$-vector of a circularly polarized signal field with average absolute errors in the polar and azimuthal angles of $33~\text{mrad}$ and $43~\text{mrad}$ respectively, and statistical noise of $1.3~\text{mrad}/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ and $1.5~\text{mrad}/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$. Additionally, we characterize the performance of the sensor as a function of the ellipticity of the input field and the size of the sensing region. We find that the sensor works over a broad range of ellipticities and validate that an electrically-small sensing region is optimal. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_04670 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Electrically-Small Rydberg Sensor for Three-Dimensional Determination of rf k-Vectors Elgee, Peter K. Cox, Kevin C. Hill, Joshua C. Kunz, Paul D. Meyer, David H. Atomic Physics Quantum Physics We present an electrically-small Rydberg atom electric field sensor with the ability to extract the three-dimensional $k$-vector of an elliptically polarized radio frequency (rf) field. In most mediums, the $k$-vector (or wave vector) provides the direction of propagation of an electromagnetic wave. Our method uses a field vector measurement at a single point in space and is thus compatible with a sensor volume that is arbitrarily small compared to the carrier wavelength. We measure the $k$-vector of a circularly polarized signal field with average absolute errors in the polar and azimuthal angles of $33~\text{mrad}$ and $43~\text{mrad}$ respectively, and statistical noise of $1.3~\text{mrad}/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ and $1.5~\text{mrad}/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$. Additionally, we characterize the performance of the sensor as a function of the ellipticity of the input field and the size of the sensing region. We find that the sensor works over a broad range of ellipticities and validate that an electrically-small sensing region is optimal. |
| title | Electrically-Small Rydberg Sensor for Three-Dimensional Determination of rf k-Vectors |
| topic | Atomic Physics Quantum Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.04670 |