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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Fundamental linewidth limit of electromagnetically induced transparency in a thermal Rydberg ladder

Noah Schlossberger*, Nikunjkumar Prajapati, Alexandra B. Artusio-Glimpse, Samuel Berweger, and Christopher L. Holloway

  • *Contact author: noah.schlossberger@nist.gov
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, L032046 – Published 16 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/g2z2-2w2h

Abstract

Spectroscopy of Rydberg states has become a popular platform for quantum sensing, with the most common readout scheme being two-photon electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) using counterpropagating laser beams. In this scheme, the energy resolution of the Rydberg state is set by the spectral linewidth of the EIT feature. While selection criteria for the two-photon resonance can narrow the linewidth to the order of the Rydberg state decay rate for a single atom, the Doppler shift from thermal velocity of the atoms broadens the ensemble linewidth to the order of the decay rate of the intermediate state. Here, we derive an analytic expression for the Doppler residual line shape in the low-power limit and corroborate the results with experiment. For Rb, we find the full-width-at-half-maximum linewidth limit to be 1.84 MHz when scanning the coupling laser and measure an experimental linewidth of 2.04 MHz. These linewidths are around a factor of 2 narrower than previous theoretical estimates as well as previously reported measured linewidths. With this, we demonstrate the most precise two-photon energy resolution of a Rydberg state in thermal vapor to date. We then map out broadening mechanisms near this limit.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, L032046– Published 16 September, 2026
  • Received 6 March 2026
  • Accepted 26 August 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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