Improvement of Microwave Electric Field Measurement Sensitivity via Multi-Carrier Modulation in Rydberg Atoms

Abstract

The microwave electric field intensity is precisely measured by the Autler–Townes splitting of electromagnetically induced transparency spectrum in a 5S1/2−5P3/2−57D5/2−58P3/2 four-level ladder-type 85Rb atomic system. A robust multi-carrier modulation scheme is employed to improve the spectral signal-to-noise ratio, which determines the optical readout of Rydberg atom-based microwave electrometry. As a result, a factor of 2 measurement sensitivity improvement is clearly achieved compared with the on resonant Autler–Townes splitting case credit to the advantage of matched filtering. This research paves the way for building a high sensitivity, portable sensor and offers a platform for achieving compact and sensitive receiver.