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Main Authors: Chandra, Aveek, Paensin, Narongrit, Dumke, Rainer
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.13827
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author Chandra, Aveek
Paensin, Narongrit
Dumke, Rainer
author_facet Chandra, Aveek
Paensin, Narongrit
Dumke, Rainer
contents Rydberg-atom electric field sensing has shown great potential from near-DC to THz with state-of-the-art measurement metrics realized in sensitivity, phase extraction, multi-band receptivity, etc. While Rydberg-atom sensors have shown exceptional performance in the GHz regime, low-frequency operation has remained challenging because of electric-field-screening in conventional vapor cells, which suppresses externally applied fields. We overcome this limitation by combining auxiliary modulation and lock-in detection with a paraffin-coated vapor cell, and demonstrate an electrode-free, wideband method for sensing frequencies, ranging from 0.5 Hz to 10 kHz. Our work extends Rydberg-atom sensor range to VLF, ULF, SLF, ELF and sub-ELF frequency bands. In our method, high state-of-the-art sensitivities have been achieved - 819 $μ$V/cm/$\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ for 1 Hz, 33 $μ$V/cm/$\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ for 10 Hz, 10 $μ$V/cm/$\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ for 100 Hz and 2 $μ$V/cm/$\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ for 1 kHz.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_13827
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Electrometry of extremely-low frequencies from kHz to sub-Hz with a Rydberg-atom sensor
Chandra, Aveek
Paensin, Narongrit
Dumke, Rainer
Quantum Physics
Applied Physics
Atomic Physics
Rydberg-atom electric field sensing has shown great potential from near-DC to THz with state-of-the-art measurement metrics realized in sensitivity, phase extraction, multi-band receptivity, etc. While Rydberg-atom sensors have shown exceptional performance in the GHz regime, low-frequency operation has remained challenging because of electric-field-screening in conventional vapor cells, which suppresses externally applied fields. We overcome this limitation by combining auxiliary modulation and lock-in detection with a paraffin-coated vapor cell, and demonstrate an electrode-free, wideband method for sensing frequencies, ranging from 0.5 Hz to 10 kHz. Our work extends Rydberg-atom sensor range to VLF, ULF, SLF, ELF and sub-ELF frequency bands. In our method, high state-of-the-art sensitivities have been achieved - 819 $μ$V/cm/$\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ for 1 Hz, 33 $μ$V/cm/$\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ for 10 Hz, 10 $μ$V/cm/$\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ for 100 Hz and 2 $μ$V/cm/$\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ for 1 kHz.
title Electrometry of extremely-low frequencies from kHz to sub-Hz with a Rydberg-atom sensor
topic Quantum Physics
Applied Physics
Atomic Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.13827