Angle-of-arrival detection of radio-frequency waves via Rydberg atom fluorescence imaging of standing waves in a glass vapor cell

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Main Authors: Schlossberger, Noah, Talashila, Rajavardhan, Prajapati, Nikunjkumar, Holloway, Christopher L.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Schlossberger, Noah
Talashila, Rajavardhan
Prajapati, Nikunjkumar
Holloway, Christopher L.
author_facet Schlossberger, Noah
Talashila, Rajavardhan
Prajapati, Nikunjkumar
Holloway, Christopher L.
contents We present a method for measuring the angle-of-arrival of 40 GHz radio-frequency (RF) radiation by mapping the standing waves generated in a rectangular glass vapor cell. These standing waves have regular and well-defined structure from which we can infer the angle and sign of the wavevector of the RF field. We map the field using spatially resolved light sheet spectroscopy of Rydberg states of rubidium atoms in the cell. Unlike traditional phased arrays, this detection scheme is compact and low-complexity, has an active area of nearly 4$π$ steradians, and is sensitive to all RF polarizations. For in-plane measurements ($ϕ= 0$), we demonstrate quantitative angle-of-arrival measurements with an uncertainty on the order of one degree in an 11~s measurement, and for out-of-plane measurements (arbitrary $θ$,$ϕ$), we demonstrate angle-of-arrival detection with uncertainty on the order of several degrees.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_18028
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Angle-of-arrival detection of radio-frequency waves via Rydberg atom fluorescence imaging of standing waves in a glass vapor cell
Schlossberger, Noah
Talashila, Rajavardhan
Prajapati, Nikunjkumar
Holloway, Christopher L.
Atomic Physics
We present a method for measuring the angle-of-arrival of 40 GHz radio-frequency (RF) radiation by mapping the standing waves generated in a rectangular glass vapor cell. These standing waves have regular and well-defined structure from which we can infer the angle and sign of the wavevector of the RF field. We map the field using spatially resolved light sheet spectroscopy of Rydberg states of rubidium atoms in the cell. Unlike traditional phased arrays, this detection scheme is compact and low-complexity, has an active area of nearly 4$π$ steradians, and is sensitive to all RF polarizations. For in-plane measurements ($ϕ= 0$), we demonstrate quantitative angle-of-arrival measurements with an uncertainty on the order of one degree in an 11~s measurement, and for out-of-plane measurements (arbitrary $θ$,$ϕ$), we demonstrate angle-of-arrival detection with uncertainty on the order of several degrees.
title Angle-of-arrival detection of radio-frequency waves via Rydberg atom fluorescence imaging of standing waves in a glass vapor cell
topic Atomic Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.18028