Numerical model of N-level cascade systems for atomic Radio Frequency sensing applications

Abstract

A ready-to-use numerical model has been developed for the atomic ladder (cascade) systems which are widely exploited in Rydberg Radio Frequency (RF) sensors. The model has been explicitly designed for user convenience and to be extensible to arbitrary N-level non-thermal systems. The versatility and adaptability of the model is validated up to 4-level atomic systems by direct comparison with experimental results from the prior art. The numerical model provides a good approximation to the experimental results and provides experimentalists with a convenient ready-to-use model to optimise the operation of an N-level Rydberg RF sensor. Current sensors exploit the 4-level atomic systems based on alkali metal atoms which require visible frequency lasers and these can be expensive and also suffer from high attenuation within optical fiber. The ability to quickly and simply explore more complex N-level systems offers the potential to use cheaper and lower-loss near-infrared lasers.