Development of a Rydberg Atom-Based Apparatus for Tracking Charged Particles

Rydberg atoms, with their high polarizability, are ideal candidates for detecting weak electric fields from charged particles. We have built a prototype apparatus to track an electron beam emitted from a 20 KeV thermionic electron gun using Rydberg Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT) signal. The principle of the operation is to use the Stark shift in Rydberg atoms to detect the electric field of an electron beam passing through an atomic vapor. In the long term, we plan to implement our detection scheme with a high-energy electron beamline at Jefferson laboratory to detect relativistic electron beams.