Enhanced Quantum-Radiofrequency Sensor

Job description: In the last decade, sensor systems using Rydberg atoms have been seen as a breakthrough solution to the problems of receiving radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic waves. The characteristics of this type of receiver are promising: extreme sensitivity, very wide bandwidth, miniature size independent of wavelength and no coupling to the immediate environment. All these advantages go beyond the characteristics of conventional antenna-based receivers for detecting RF signals. In the context of ELF to UHF communications, there are a number of inherent problems with antennas, the first of which is their size, on the order of a meter or more as we move down in frequency, making them bulky and difficult to install. Conventional techniques for miniaturizing antennas severely limit their bandwidth and efficiency characteristics, thereby compromising the performance of the communications system. As the antenna research community begins to take an interest in this novel approach to RF detection, new approaches are emerging that allow some well-known challenges to be revisited, ranging from ELF detection, to the design of a truly omnidirectional antenna, to the realization of THz metrology. The aim of this thesis is to explore a versatile approach to the antenna-like reception problem with the integration of a Rydberg atomic optical setup, in order to simultaneously use the well-known metal-based receiver design for field shaping and amplification, while exploiting the RF detection capabilities of the Rydberg atoms to go beyond the Chu-Harrington limit. The co-design between the metallic resonant part and the Rydberg atomic setup will be done analytically and/or by full-wave simulation. As the impedance matching problem is avoided, approaches using miniature agile antenna will be reconsidered. Finally, known limitations will be re-examined in the light of the proposed approach. Demonstration using an optical bench will be carried out in a laboratory and/or in an anechoic environment.

Your profile: Ingénieur / Master 2