RF • Microwave • Quantum Sensing

Rajavardhan Talashila (RT)

RF & Microwave Engineer | Quantum / Rydberg RF Sensing | Antennas & Electromagnetics | Wireless Systems

I work at the intersection of RF and microwave engineering, antennas, electromagnetic simulation, and quantum-enabled sensing. My current research at NIST focuses on Rydberg-atom RF sensing, including angle-of-arrival estimation, sensor sensitivity, and RF-induced atomic-state dynamics.

RF & Microwave Antennas HFSS / CST EMI / EMC Wireless Systems Rydberg RF Sensing RF Measurements

Professional & Research Profiles

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Current Research Focus

NIST • Boulder, Colorado

Rydberg-Atom RF Sensing

Developing and experimentally characterizing atom-based RF sensors for field measurement, direction finding, and precision RF metrology.

  • Developed a subwavelength, amplitude-only method for RF angle-of-arrival estimation using standing-wave measurements.
  • Characterizing Rydberg-sensor sensitivity across VHF, UHF, and microwave frequencies.
  • Studying AC Stark shifts, RF-induced dressed states, avoided crossings, and Floquet-state behavior in Rydberg EIT spectra.
  • Building and automating RF/optical measurement workflows for repeatable experimental characterization.

Selected Research Output

Subwavelength RF Angle-of-Arrival Sensing

First-author work demonstrating angle-of-arrival estimation from amplitude-only measurements of standing waves in a Rydberg atom sensor, without requiring conventional phase-resolved antenna-array measurements.

Journal of Applied Physics, 2025
Experimental Rydberg RF sensing with direct relevance to compact direction-finding and field-measurement systems.
View publication →

Professional Experience

2024–Present • Boulder, Colorado

Project Associate — NIST

Conducting experimental research in Rydberg-atom RF sensing, with emphasis on angle-of-arrival estimation, sensor-sensitivity characterization, RF-field measurement, optical spectroscopy, and automated data acquisition.

2021–2023 • Bengaluru, India

Senior Application Engineer — Ansys

Supported engineering teams across antennas, PCBs, sensing devices, EMI/EMC, signal integrity, power integrity, and radiation problems using HFSS and related simulation tools.

Contributed to digital beamforming-array simulation work associated with AFRL.

2020–2021 • Chennai, India

Project Assistant — 5G Testbed, IIT Madras

Designed, fabricated, and experimentally tested a 3.5 GHz passive bandpass filter and contributed to antenna design and testing for 5G base-station applications.

2010–2012 • Maharashtra, India

Junior Telecom Officer — BSNL

Worked with wired telephony, 2G/3G cellular systems, optical-fiber networks, and customer-facing telecommunications operations.

Selected Engineering Projects

Ansys • System-Level RF

Digital Beamforming System Simulation

Contributed to system-level simulation of digital beamforming arrays using Ansys HFSS, Keysight PathWave SystemVue, and AGI/STK, combining electromagnetic models with RF-system and platform-level behavior.

Digital beamforming system simulation

IIT Madras • 5G Hardware

3.5 GHz Bandpass Filter

Designed, fabricated, and experimentally validated a passive 3.5 GHz bandpass filter for the IIT Madras 5G Testbed.

3.5 GHz 5G bandpass filter

IITMSAT • Satellite Communications

Antenna, Polarization & Link Analysis

Analyzed spacecraft attitude, antenna radiation patterns, LHCP/RHCP polarization, orbital visibility, and link budgets for a LEO satellite communication system.

Related publication →

IITMSAT satellite communication simulation

Doctoral Research • Electromagnetics

Multipole Expansion of Antenna Radiation

Developed and studied multipole and spherical-harmonic representations of radiation from wire, patch, and horn antennas, with results published in IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters.

Spherical harmonic representation of electromagnetic radiation

Selected Publications

Full research profiles: Google Scholar · ORCID

Talashila, R., Watterson, W. J., Moser, B. L., et al. (2025). “Determining Angle of Arrival of Radio-Frequency Fields Using Subwavelength, Amplitude-Only Measurements of Standing Waves in a Rydberg Atom Sensor.” Journal of Applied Physics, 138(11), 114402. DOI →
Focus: compact Rydberg-atom direction finding using subwavelength field measurements.
Talashila, R., & Ramachandran, H. (2021). “Effect of polarization on the link dynamics of a spinning low-earth orbit satellite aligned with geomagnetic field.” Engineering Reports. Open access →
Talashila, R., & Ramachandran, H. (2020). “Multipole Expansion of Radiation From Patch Antenna Using Quasi-Static Surface Currents.” IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, 19(12), 2136–2140. IEEE Xplore →
Talashila, R., & Ramachandran, H. (2019). “Determination of Far Fields of Wire Antennas on a PEC Sphere Using Spherical Harmonic Expansion.” IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, 18(4), 646–650. IEEE Xplore →

Patents & Inventions

Contributor to patent-related Rydberg sensing inventions

Rydberg Field Imaging

2D electromagnetic field imager using light-sheet fluorescence spectroscopy of Rydberg states

A Rydberg-atom field-imaging approach that combines light-sheet excitation and fluorescence imaging to map electromagnetic fields over a two-dimensional region. The concept targets compact, minimally perturbative field visualization across RF and related measurement applications.

Rydberg RF Angle of Arrival

Rydberg Electrode Cell Angle of Arrival Estimator

A compact angle-of-arrival sensing concept that uses subwavelength standing-wave structure inside a Rydberg vapor-cell system. The approach estimates incoming RF direction from amplitude measurements without requiring a separate strong RF phase-reference field.

Technical Skills

RF & ElectromagneticsAntennas, RF & microwave engineering, EMI/EMC, signal integrity, power integrity, wireless systems, electromagnetic modeling
Simulation & Engineering SoftwareAnsys HFSS, Ansys SIwave, CST Microwave Studio, Keysight PathWave SystemVue, AGI/STK, LabVIEW
RF Measurements & InstrumentationVector network analyzers, spectrum analyzers, oscilloscopes, signal generators, LCR meters, laboratory data acquisition
Quantum / Atomic RF SensingRydberg atoms, EIT spectroscopy, RF electrometry, AC Stark effects, atom-based field sensing
ProgrammingPython, MATLAB, Fortran, CUDA Fortran
Experimental ResearchRF/optical laboratory automation, spectroscopy, signal analysis, model-to-measurement validation

Electromagnetics & RF Technical Notes

Education

University of Colorado Boulder

Ph.D., Electrical Engineering — Quantum Sensing

Expected 2026 • GPA 3.83/4.00

M.S., Electrical Engineering

2025 • GPA 3.83/4.00

IIT Madras

Ph.D., Electrical Engineering — RF & Microwave

2021 • CGPA 8.34/10

M.Tech., Electrical Engineering — Photonics

2021 • CGPA 8.34/10

Reading

I read broadly across physics, science, history, philosophy, and literature, and keep a separate page as a personal record of books and ideas worth revisiting.

Explore my reading list →

Let’s Connect

I am interested in research and engineering opportunities involving RF and microwave systems, antennas, electromagnetic simulation, advanced RF measurements, wireless systems, and quantum-enabled sensing.

trvabc@gmail.com · Resume · LinkedIn · Google Scholar · ORCID · YouTube