Interaction-enhanced Rydberg sensing

Dipole transitions between Rydberg levels in alkali atoms have emerged as a powerful tool for the ultra-sensitive sensing of external microwave and terahertz fields. However, current methods are rapidly approaching quantum-limited performance, constrained by atomic or photonic shot noise and fundamental thermal fluctuations. While conventional quantum metrological paradigms suggest that exploiting inter-atomic interactions can enable scaling beyond standard quantum limits, practical implementation in already highly sensitive systems remains a significant challenge.

In this talk, I will present our recent advances in leveraging Rydberg interactions across both cold and hot-atom platforms. In cold atom systems, I will demonstrate how these interactions can facilitate an error-mitigating operation that effectively cancels out classical experimental losses, enhancing robustness [arXiv:2505.01506]. Furthermore, I will discuss our efforts to exploit spatial mapping effects [arXiv:2509.02810] and observe and image Rydberg avalanche excitation to further boost sensitivity, potentially reaching the single microwave photon level.

I will also report on new results from hot-atom systems, where we similarly explore the Rydberg-plasma to non-interacting phase transition in a pulsed regime, aiming to design optimal protocols for sensing both system parameters and microwave fields.

By bridging the gap between fundamental quantum protocols and practical sensing limits, these results pave the way for a new generation of Rydberg sensors that are not only intrinsically more sensitive but also uniquely resilient to experimental imperfections.