Directional Electric Field Enhancement Structure for Rydberg Atomic Sensors Combined With Parabolic Reflector

Rydberg atomic electric field detection technology, as a novel quantum precision detection method, offers high detection sensitivity, this feature makes Rydberg atomic sensors (RASs) have excellent capabilities in measuring weak signals. However, the current detection sensitivity of RASs is far from the expected level. Due to the characteristic of Rydberg atoms responding to electric field components, the electric field enhancement structure (EFES) has attracted widespread attention as an effective means to improve detection sensitivity. However, the electric dimension of EFES is usually small, and the E-Gain that EFES can provide has limitations. Integrating EFES with a parabolic reflector (PR) is a simple and effective way to further enhance the E-Gain through the gain brought by the large aperture of the PR, thereby improving the electric field detection sensitivity of RASs. However, the current research on EFES is usually omnidirectional enhancement, which fails to meet the parabolic antenna’s requirement for the directivity of the feed. We proposed a directional EFES to enhance the electric field in a specific direction, replacing the feed of the parabolic antenna. Combining this EFES with the PR can further increase the E-Gain on the basis of the EFES, thereby improving the electric field detection sensitivity. The EFES achieves a maximum E-Gain of 40 dB at 1.69 GHz, which combined with the PR, the E-Gain reaches 52 dB.