Angle-of-Arrival Determination of Radio-Frequency Fields Using Stark-Shifted Rydberg-EIT Spectra
Abstract
We demonstrate a method for determining the magnitude of the angle of arrival (AoA) of a linearly polarized radio-frequency (RF) field using the angle-dependent spectral amplitudes of AC Stark-shifted electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) resonances. An off-resonant RF field produces distinct Stark shifts of the |mJ| sublevels, while their relative excitation strengths depend strongly on the relative orientation of the RF and optical polarizations. Under the controlled polarization geometry considered here, this dependence enables determination of the AoA magnitude without requiring RF phase measurements or spatially separated sensing locations. We experimentally demonstrate the method at RF frequencies of 1.27 GHz, 2 GHz, 3 GHz, and 4 GHz using a subwavelength cesium vapor cell. Within the 20∘−40∘ region of highest angular sensitivity, the estimated repeatability-based 1σ AoA uncertainty ranges from approximately 0.6∘ to 2∘ across the investigated RF frequencies. A model combining Floquet-Shirley calculations of the RF-dressed Rydberg states with a coherent hyperfine-to-fine-structure optical excitation model qualitatively reproduces the experimental observations. These results establish a path toward compact, phase-independent AoA sensing using spatially localized Rydberg-atom spectroscopy.
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BibTeX
@misc{talashila2026angleofarrival,
title = {{Angle-of-Arrival Determination of Radio-Frequency Fields Using Stark-Shifted Rydberg-EIT Spectra}},
author = {Rajavardhan Talashila and Zoya Popovic and Nikunjkumar Prajapati and Noah Schlossberger and Christopher L. Holloway},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.17459},
eprint = {2609.17459},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.17459},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Angle-of-Arrival Determination of Radio-Frequency Fields Using Stark-Shifted Rydberg-EIT Spectra
AU - Rajavardhan Talashila
AU - Zoya Popovic
AU - Nikunjkumar Prajapati
AU - Noah Schlossberger
AU - Christopher L. Holloway
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/15
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.17459
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.17459
AB - We demonstrate a method for determining the magnitude of the angle of arrival (AoA) of a linearly polarized radio-frequency (RF) field using the angle-dependent spectral amplitudes of AC Stark-shifted electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) resonances. An off-resonant RF field produces distinct Stark shifts of the |m_J| sublevels, while their relative excitation strengths depend strongly on the relative orientation of the RF and optical polarizations. Under the controlled polarization geometry considered here, this dependence enables determination of the AoA magnitude without requiring RF phase measurements or spatially separated sensing locations. We experimentally demonstrate the method at RF frequencies of 1.27 GHz, 2 GHz, 3 GHz, and 4 GHz using a subwavelength cesium vapor cell. Within the 20^∘−40^∘ region of highest angular sensitivity, the estimated repeatability-based 1σ AoA uncertainty ranges from approximately 0.6^∘ to 2^∘ across the investigated RF frequencies. A model combining Floquet-Shirley calculations of the RF-dressed Rydberg states with a coherent hyperfine-to-fine-structure optical excitation model qualitatively reproduces the experimental observations. These results establish a path toward compact, phase-independent AoA sensing using spatially localized Rydberg-atom spectroscopy.
ER -