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arXiv:2607.25309

Achieving 100$\,$MHz Instantaneous Bandwidth in a Broadband Rydberg Microwave Sensor

Yuhan Yan, Jinyin 金银 Wan 万, Xuejie Li, Xing Xia, Haojie Zhao, B. X. Yu, 邓见辽, L. Q. Chen, Huadong Cheng

Published Jul 28, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

Rydberg atoms have attracted considerable attention in recent years as a novel platform for microwave sensing, owing to their unique physical merits: large transition dipole moments between Rydberg levels and broad frequency coverage. As a critical figure of merit for Rydberg microwave sensors, instantaneous bandwidth serves as a key benchmark for evaluating their viability in practical applications. Previous studies on instantaneous bandwidth remain limited to single-frequency operation, with typical demonstrated values of only tens of megahertz, a constraint that hampers the real-world deployment of this sensing technology. Here, we experimentally achieve an instantaneous bandwidth of over 100$\,$MHz across a broad frequency range of 2.7-20$\,$GHz and realize a sensitivity in the hundreds of nV$\,$cm$^{-1}\,$Hz$^{-1/2}$ range. The physical mechanism lies in the dressed-state coherence and the interference effect between different transition channels. Our work substantially broadens the instantaneous bandwidth of Rydberg microwave sensors and paves the way for their practical deployment in fields such as radar and wireless communications.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2607.25309

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Achieving 100 \,MHz Instantaneous Bandwidth in a Broadband Rydberg Microwave Sensor
Rydberg atoms have attracted considerable attention in recent years as a novel platform for microwave sensing, owing to their unique physical merits: large transition dipole moments between Rydberg levels and broad frequency coverage. As a critical figure of merit for Rydberg microwave sensors, instantaneous bandwidth serves as a key benchmark for evaluating their viability in practical applications. Previous studies on instantaneous bandwidth remain limited to single-frequency operation, with typical demonstrated values of only tens of megahertz, a constraint that hampers the real-world deployment of this sensing technology. Here, we experimentally achieve an instantaneous bandwidth of over 100 \,MHz across a broad frequency range of 2.7-20 \,GHz and realize a sensitivity in the hundreds of nV \,cm−1 ^{-1}\,−1Hz−1/2^{-1/2}−1/2 range. The physical mechanism lies in the dressed-state coherence and the interference effect between different transition channels. Our work substantially broadens the instantaneous bandwidth of Rydberg microwave sensors and paves the way for their practical deployment in fields such as radar and wireless communications.
Broadband Rydberg Atomic Microwave Sensing with 44.6 \,MHz Instantaneous Bandwidth
Rydberg atoms have become a promising novel type of microwave sensor due to their excellent physical properties -- broad frequency coverage and large electric dipole moments. High sensitivity and broad instantaneous bandwidth are two indispensable requirements for deployable Rydberg microwave sensors. However, enabling broadband operation while retaining high sensitivity has been a longstanding barrier limiting their applications. We propose and experimentally demonstrate a Rydberg microwave sensor whose instantaneous bandwidth is significantly enhanced via an auxiliary microwave field. By finely modulating the Rydberg energy levels with this field, we broaden the bandwidth substantially while retaining the sensor's inherent high sensitivity. An instantaneous bandwidth of 44.6 \,MHz ($\pm22.322.322.3\,MHz)withasensitivityof225.7MHz) with a sensitivity of 225.7MHz)withasensitivityof225.7\,nVnVnV\,cmcmcm^{-1}\,HzHzHz^{-1/2}$ is realized in a thermal 87^{87}87Rb vapor with the local microwave frequency of 16.03 \,GHz. Our work delivers concurrent broad instantaneous bandwidth and high sensitivity for Rydberg microwave sensors, paving a technically viable path for their practical deployment in broadband microwave metrology, radar, and wireless communication.
Rydberg atoms, with their giant transition electric dipole moments and abundant energy-level transitions, offer exceptional potential for microwave (MW) electric field sensing, combining high sensitivity and broad frequency coverage. However, simultaneously achieving high sensitivity and broad instantaneous bandwidth in a Rydberg-based MW sensor remains a critical challenge. Here, we propose a multi-dressed-state engineered superheterodyne detection scheme for Rydberg electrometry to overcome this challenge. It is found that the key to simultaneously achieving large instantaneous bandwidth and high sensitivity lies in the coherence of dressed states and the interference between transition channels of dressed states. By strategically engineering the multiple dressed states of Rydberg atoms, we demonstrate a thermal 87Rb\mathrm{^{87}Rb}87Rb vapor-based sensor with a sensitivity of 222.6 \,nV \,cm−1 ^{-1}\,−1Hz−1/2^{-1/2}−1/2 and a record instantaneous bandwidth of 76.8 \,MHz with the local microwave frequency 16.03 \,GHz. This advancement paves the way for Rydberg-atom technologies in radar, wireless communication, and spectrum monitoring.
Rydberg-atom-based microwave (MW) sensors offer high sensitivity and intrinsic traceability, but their instantaneous bandwidth is fundamentally limited by atomic coherence time. Here, we introduce a scalable sensing architecture that overcomes this limitation by spatially multiplexing atomic detection channels with a Stark comb, in which an MW frequency comb (MFC) and a position-dependent Stark field enable each Rydberg vapor cell to function as an independent frequency-selective heterodyne receiver. We experimentally validate the 210 MHz instantaneous-bandwidth channelized receiver architecture through sequential characterization of individual Stark-shifted channels using a 21-line MFC, while maintaining an overall sensitivity of 326.6 nVcm −1 Hz −1/2 despite a 160 MHz tuning of the carrier resonance frequency. Full simultaneous operation across the 210 MHz bandwidth requires parallel implementation and readout of all channels. This scalable architecture enables on-demand instantaneous bandwidth while preserving sensitivity, providing a pathway toward real-time broadband MW detection for radar, communications, and spectrum monitoring.
We present a Rydberg atom-based microwave electric field sensor that achieves extended dynamic range and enhanced sensitivity across a broad bandwidth. By characterizing the Autler-Townes (AT) splitting induced by a single-tone microwave field, we demonstrate a spectroscopic method that simultaneously extracts both the microwave frequency and electric field strength directly from the splitting pattern. We implement dual-tone heterodyne detection, achieving a minimum detectable field strength on the order of uV/cm and a sensitivity in the sub-uV/cm/Hz^1/2 regime, while extending the operational bandwidth up to 3 GHz. Through systematic characterization of frequency and power dependencies, we identify optimal operating conditions to minimize power broadening in the resonant AT regime and maximize sensitivity in the far-off-resonance AC Stark regime. The resulting platform combines high sensitivity, broad bandwidth, and a dynamic range of approximately 90 dB, establishing Rydberg atoms as practical sensors for precision electric field metrology.
Rydberg microwave electrometry has attracted great attention, due to its potential application in radar and communication, but simultaneously achieving high sensitivity and broad instantaneous bandwidth remains a challenge. This study demonstrates an enhanced instantaneous bandwidth of \ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}10.2 MHz with sensitivity of 62 nV cm${}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ Hz${}^{\ensuremath{-}1/2}$ by the amplification of one sideband wave in the six-wave-mixing process of a Rydberg superheterodyne receiver.
Rydberg atoms are atoms in their highly excited energy states. The physical properties of Rydberg atoms in the presence of external fields play an important role in quantum precision measurement. In recent years, radio-frequency electric field sensing based on Rydberg atoms has attracted significant interest. It is widely recognized as an electromagnetic sensing system fundamentally different from traditional ones. As a quantum sensor, it is expected to surpass several foundational limitations of traditional receivers, such as sensitivity, dynamic range and frequency bandwidth. It was reported that Rydberg sensing systems can sense microwaves of frequencies from DC up to 1THz. Its quantum nature would possibly avoid internal thermal (Johnson) noise, even at room temperature. Recent demonstrations have also observed high precision for terahertz imaging, strong fields sensing, proof-of-principle communication. However, limitations of this novel system have not been addressed, especially for a practical radar, communication or electronic warfare system. Here in this work, we first compare the architectures of different microwave receivers and then analyze the metrics of Rydberg microwave receivers, such as instantaneous bandwidth and dynamic range based on experimental results. We concluded by pointing out several main obstacles to overcome for realizing a practical state-of-the-art microwave receiver.