Miniature Rydberg Atom based Devices – MiRyAD

The interrogation of isolated atoms with lasers allows for measuring physical constants with exquisite sensitivity and precision. Embedded in laboratory instruments such as atomic clocks and magnetometers, this technique has allowed reaching unprecedented performances, close to the fundamental limits, and even beating the standard quantum limit. However, the complexity, size, and cost of such devices severely hinder their deployment in most field applications where they would provide the utmost benefits.
While the first generation of miniature atomic clocks and magnetometers has already shown promise in domains ranging from navigation to neuroscience, those portable devices remain limited to simple architectures and do not take full advantage of the potential atoms can offer.

The MiRyAD project aims at developing an integrated atomic electric field sensor exploiting the extreme sensitivity of Rydberg atoms to electric fields in a miniature device for the first time.
By providing new ways of confining and coupling atoms to electric fields in microfabricated structures, this project will pave the way for a new class of miniature devices.
Such a miniature device would allow measuring fields in a non-invasive way with better spatial resolutions in the near field, provide accurate and accessible references that could be embedded in RF instruments or constitute an integrated atomic receiver able to operate in the THz domain.