Filter circuit for suppression of electric-field noise in Rydberg-atom experiments

Abstract

Rydberg atoms are widely employed in precision spectroscopy and quantum information science. To minimize atomic decoherence caused by dc Stark effect, the electric field noise at the Rydberg atom location should be kept below $\sim 10$ mV/cm. Here we present a simple yet effective electronic circuit, referred to as a clamp switch, that allows one to realize such conditions. The clamp switch enables precise low-noise electric field control while allowing application of fast high-voltage ionization pulses through the same electrode(s), enabling atom detection via electric-field ionization and electron or ion counting. We outline the circuit design and analyze its noise suppression performance for both small and large input signals. In application examples, we employ the clamp switch to reduce the spectral width and increase the signal strength of a Rydberg line by a factor of two, to estimate the electric-field noise in the testing chamber, and to perform electric-field calibration using Rydberg Stark spectroscopy. The clamp switch improves coherence times and spectroscopic resolution in fundamental and applied quantum science research with Rydberg atoms.