Determining Angle Of Arrival Of Radio Frequency Fields Using Subwavelength, Amplitude-only Measurements Of Standing Waves In A Rydberg Atom Sensor

Deep subwavelength RF imaging with atomic Rydberg sensors has overcome fundamental limitations of traditionalantennas and enabled ultra-wideband detection of omni-directional time varying fields all in a compactform factor. However, in most applications, Rydberg sensors require the use of a secondary strong RF referencefield 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 withinthe Rydberg cell, we can determine the AoA independent of the strength of incoming RF field and without requiringa secondary strong RF phase reference field. We perform precision AoA measurements with a roboticantenna positioning system for 4.2, 5.0, and 5.7 GHz signals and demonstrate a 1.7◦ polar angular resolutionfrom 0◦ to 60◦ AoA and 4.1◦ over all possible angles.
Organization: National Institute of Standards and Technology
Organization URL: https://catalog.data.gov/organization/nist
Last updated: 2024-10-18 00:00:00
Tags: Rydberg atoms, atomic physics, electric field, fields strength, receivers, volts/meter