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.