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

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.