Determining angle of arrival of radio-frequency fields using subwavelength, amplitude-only measurements of standing waves in a Rydberg atom sensor

Deep subwavelength radio-frequency (RF) imaging with atomic Rydberg sensors has overcome fundamental limitations of traditional antennas and enabled ultra-wideband detection of omni-directional time varying fields all in a compact form factor. However, in most applications, Rydberg sensors require the use of a secondary strong RF reference field to serve as a phase reference. Here, we demonstrate a new type of Rydberg sensor for angle-of-arrival (AoA) sensing, which utilizes subwavelength imaging of standing wave fields. By placing a metallic plate within the Rydberg cell, we can determine the AoA independent of the strength of incoming RF field and without requiring a secondary strong RF phase reference field. We perform precision AoA measurements with a robotic antenna positioning system for 4.2, 5.0, and 5.7 GHz signals and demonstrate a 1.7° polar angular resolution from 0° to 60° AoA and 4.1° over all possible angles.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Applied Physics
Published
2025-09-15
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0285778
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Quantum optics and atomic interactions
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.25

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article

Determining angle of arrival of radio-frequency fields using subwavelength, amplitude-only measurements of standing waves in a Rydberg atom sensor

William J. Watterson, Christopher L. Holloway, Matthew T. Simons, Benjamin L. Moser et al.
1 citations
Journal of Applied Physics
Quantum optics and atomic interactions
1.25
article

Determining angle of arrival of radio-frequency fields using subwavelength, amplitude-only measurements of standing waves in a Rydberg atom sensor

William J. Watterson, Christopher L. Holloway, Matthew T. Simons, Benjamin L. Moser, Nikunjkumar Prajapati, Alexandra B. Artusio‐Glimpse, Rajavardhan Talashila, Noah Schlossberger, Joshua A. Gordon
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Deep subwavelength radio-frequency (RF) imaging with atomic Rydberg sensors has overcome fundamental limitations of traditional antennas and enabled ultra-wideband detection of omni-directional time varying fields all in a compact form factor. However, in most applications, Rydberg sensors require the use of a secondary strong RF reference field to serve as a phase reference. Here, we demonstrate a new type of Rydberg sensor for angle-of-arrival (AoA) sensing, which utilizes subwavelength imaging of standing wave fields. By placing a metallic plate within the Rydberg cell, we can determine the AoA independent of the strength of incoming RF field and without requiring a secondary strong RF phase reference field. We perform precision AoA measurements with a robotic antenna positioning system for 4.2, 5.0, and 5.7 GHz signals and demonstrate a 1.7° polar angular resolution from 0° to 60° AoA and 4.1° over all possible angles.

Journal of Applied PhysicsVol. 138(11)
National Institute of Standards and Technology (US), University of Colorado Boulder (US), University of Colorado System (US)
U.S. Department of Defense, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Advanced Research Projects Agency, Communications Technology Laboratory
Openalex Percentile: Top 17%
Quantum optics and atomic interactions
1.25
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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