US Patent 11585841 Low-frequency atomic electrometry

In a method of atomic electrometry, EIT spectroscopy is performed on host atoms of an alkali metal in a vapor cell. The EIT spectroscopy indicates a resonant energy of a probed Rydberg state of the host atoms. The vapor cell is exposed to an ambient electric field. A shift in the resonant energy as indicated by the EIT spectroscopy is observed and interpreted as a measurement of the ambient field. During the measurement of the ambient field, a bias electric field is generated inside the vapor cell by shining light into the vapor cell from a light source situated outside of the cell. The bias field is useful for increasing the sensitivity of the measurement.