Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Chinese Optics Letters

Tunable off-resonant Rydberg microwave frequency comb spectroscopy based on metawaveguide coupled Rydberg atoms

Lihua Zhang, Zong-Kai Liu, Bang Liu, Qifeng Wang, Yu Ma, Tianyu Han, Zhengyuan Zhang, Hanchao Chen, Shi-Yao Shao, Qing Li, Jun Zhang, Dong-Sheng Ding, Bao-Sen Shi

Published Jan 1, 2024• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Studying Rydberg microwave frequency comb (MFC) spectroscopy helps increase the working bandwidth of the Rydberg receiver.This Letter demonstrates off-resonant Rydberg MFC spectroscopy in a meta-waveguide-coupled Rydberg atomic system.An off-resonant MFC field couples with the Rydberg atoms through a meta-waveguide.The system can receive the microwave field in the working band from 0.5 GHz to 13.5 GHz, and the MFC spectroscopy covers a span of 36 MHz at three different arbitrarily-chosen frequencies of 2 GHz, 3 GHz, and 5.8 GHz.The MFC spectrum that covers a wide range of 125 MHz is also verified.This work is significant for tunable wide-band instant microwave signal detection in the Rydberg atomic system, which is useful in microwave frequency metrology, communication, and radar.

DOI
10.3788/col202422.080201

Related papers

Resonant Rydberg Microwave Frequency Comb Spectroscopy Based on Transverse Electromagnetic Cell Coupled Rydberg Atoms

Xiangyu Li, Hongjin Chen, Di Sang +2 more

Microwave frequency comb represents one of the effective solutions to address the bandwidth limitation in Rydberg atom-based microwave measurements. Here, we demonstrate that by optimizing the phase and intensity of the microwave frequency comb, the average spectral response can be enhanced to achieve optimal flatness in the microwave frequency comb spectrum. This optimization enables the realization of instantaneous bandwidth for a Rydberg receiver at a resonant frequency of 8.556 GHz. This work holds significant implications for the detection of broadband instantaneous microwave signals in Rydberg atom systems, with substantial application potential in fields such as microwave frequency metrology, communications, and radar.

International Conference on Microwave and Millimeter Wave Technology (ICMMT)•May 19, 2025•0 citations

Rydberg Microwave-Frequency-Comb Spectrometer

Lihua Zhang, Zong-Kai Liu, Bang Liu +4 more

The developing frequency-comb spectral technologies have potential applications and prospects in the wide fields of cosmology, meteorology, and microwave measurement. Here, we demonstrate a Rydberg microwave-frequency-comb spectrometer via multiple-microwave field dressing, providing precise microwave measurement. The Rydberg microwave-frequency-comb spectrum provides a real-time and absolute-frequency measurement with a range of 125 MHz and gives the relative phase of a single-frequency microwave signal. The reported experiment helps real-time sensing of an unknown microwave signal over a wide range using Rydberg atoms, which are vital for Rydberg-atom-based microwave metrology.

arXiv:2206.06572•Physical Review Applied•Jul 14, 2022•82 citations

Waveguide-Coupled Rydberg Spectrum Analyzer from 0 to 20 GHz

David H. Meyer, Paul D. Kunz, Kevin C. Cox

We demonstrate an atomic rf receiver and spectrum analyzer based on thermal Rydberg atoms coupled to a planar microwave waveguide. We use an off-resonant rf heterodyne technique to achieve continuous operation for carrier frequencies ranging from dc to 20 GHz. The system achieves an intrinsic sensitivity of up to $\ensuremath{-}120(2)$, dc coupling, 4-MHz instantaneous bandwidth, and over 80 dB of linear dynamic range. By connecting through a low-noise preamplifier, we demonstrate high-performance spectrum analysis with peak sensitivity of better than $\ensuremath{-}145\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\mathrm{dBm/Hz}$. Attaching a standard rabbit-ears antenna, the spectrum analyzer detects weak ambient signals including FM radio, AM radio, WiFi, and bluetooth. We also demonstrate waveguide-readout of the thermal Rydberg ensemble by nondestructively probing waveguide-atom interactions. The system opens the door for small, room-temperature, ensemble-based Rydberg sensors that surpass the sensitivity, bandwidth, and precision limitations of standard rf sensors, receivers, and analyzers.

arXiv:2009.14383•Physical Review Applied•Jan 27, 2021•210 citations

Continuous-Frequency Microwave Heterodyne Detection in an Atomic Vapor Cell

Xiao-Hong Liu, Kai-Yu Liao, Zuan-Xian Zhang +8 more

Atomic heterodyne dressed by a local oscillator resonant with Rydberg transitions allows high sensitivity and robust phase measurement of a microwave electric field, but it is typically limited to detection of discrete frequencies within the narrow bandwidth of Rydberg transitions. Here we demonstrate an atomic heterodyne scheme for continuous-frequency electric field measurement based on multilevel Rydberg atoms in a room-temperature vapor cell. Driven by two off-resonant microwaves acting as a tunable local oscillator field, the heterodyne receiver can retrieve the amplitude, phase, and frequency information of signal microwave in a continuous frequency band. In our experiment, the receiver achieves an electric field sensitivity of up to $1.5\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{V}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{Hz}}^{\ensuremath{-}1/2}$, 80-dB linear dynamic range, and over 1 GHz of continuous frequency range. We also demonstrate the reliable reception of continuously tunable phase-modulated carriers in the digital communication. This work will facilitate the application of atomic heterodyne in the areas such as radar technique, radio monitoring, and radio astronomy.

Physical Review Applied•Nov 2, 2022•67 citations

A millimeter-wave atomic receiver

Remy Legaie, Georg A. Raithel, David Alexander Anderson

Rydberg quantum sensors are sensitive to radio-frequency fields across an ultra-wide frequency range spanning megahertz to terahertz electromagnetic waves resonant with Rydberg atom dipole transitions. Here, we demonstrate an atomic millimeter-wave heterodyne receiver employing continuous-wave lasers stabilized to an optical frequency comb. We characterize the atomic receiver in the W-band at a signal frequency of f = 95.992 512 GHz and demonstrate a sensitivity of 7.9 μV/m/Hz with a linear dynamic range in power greater than 70 dB. We develop frequency selectivity metrics for atomic receivers and demonstrate their use in our millimeter-wave receiver, including signal rejection levels at signal frequency offsets Δf/f = 10−4, 10−5, and 10−6; 3, 6, 9, and 12-dB bandwidths; filter roll-off; and shape factor analysis. Our work represents an important advance toward future studies and applications of atomic receiver science and technology in weak millimeter-wave and high-frequency signal detection.

arXiv:2306.17114•AVS Quantum Science•Apr 5, 2024•19 citations

On-demand instantaneous bandwidth microwave receiver via scalable Rydberg Vapor cell array with Stark comb

Yuechun Jiao, Yuwen Yin, Yunhui He +7 more

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.

Communications Physics•Nov 1, 2026•0 citations
Studying Rydberg microwave frequency comb (MFC) spectroscopy helps increase the working bandwidth of the Rydberg receiver.This Letter demonstrates off-resonant Rydberg MFC spectroscopy in a meta-waveguide-coupled Rydberg atomic system.An off-resonant MFC field couples with the Rydberg atoms through a meta-waveguide.The system can receive the microwave field in the working band from 0.5 GHz to 13.5 GHz, and the MFC spectroscopy covers a span of 36 MHz at three different arbitrarily-chosen frequencies of 2 GHz, 3 GHz, and 5.8 GHz.The MFC spectrum that covers a wide range of 125 MHz is also verified.This work is significant for tunable wide-band instant microwave signal detection in the Rydberg atomic system, which is useful in microwave frequency metrology, communication, and radar.
Microwave frequency comb represents one of the effective solutions to address the bandwidth limitation in Rydberg atom-based microwave measurements. Here, we demonstrate that by optimizing the phase and intensity of the microwave frequency comb, the average spectral response can be enhanced to achieve optimal flatness in the microwave frequency comb spectrum. This optimization enables the realization of instantaneous bandwidth for a Rydberg receiver at a resonant frequency of 8.556 GHz. This work holds significant implications for the detection of broadband instantaneous microwave signals in Rydberg atom systems, with substantial application potential in fields such as microwave frequency metrology, communications, and radar.
The developing frequency-comb spectral technologies have potential applications and prospects in the wide fields of cosmology, meteorology, and microwave measurement. Here, we demonstrate a Rydberg microwave-frequency-comb spectrometer via multiple-microwave field dressing, providing precise microwave measurement. The Rydberg microwave-frequency-comb spectrum provides a real-time and absolute-frequency measurement with a range of 125 MHz and gives the relative phase of a single-frequency microwave signal. The reported experiment helps real-time sensing of an unknown microwave signal over a wide range using Rydberg atoms, which are vital for Rydberg-atom-based microwave metrology.
We demonstrate an atomic rf receiver and spectrum analyzer based on thermal Rydberg atoms coupled to a planar microwave waveguide. We use an off-resonant rf heterodyne technique to achieve continuous operation for carrier frequencies ranging from dc to 20 GHz. The system achieves an intrinsic sensitivity of up to $\ensuremath{-}120(2)$, dc coupling, 4-MHz instantaneous bandwidth, and over 80 dB of linear dynamic range. By connecting through a low-noise preamplifier, we demonstrate high-performance spectrum analysis with peak sensitivity of better than $\ensuremath{-}145\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\mathrm{dBm/Hz}$. Attaching a standard rabbit-ears antenna, the spectrum analyzer detects weak ambient signals including FM radio, AM radio, WiFi, and bluetooth. We also demonstrate waveguide-readout of the thermal Rydberg ensemble by nondestructively probing waveguide-atom interactions. The system opens the door for small, room-temperature, ensemble-based Rydberg sensors that surpass the sensitivity, bandwidth, and precision limitations of standard rf sensors, receivers, and analyzers.
Atomic heterodyne dressed by a local oscillator resonant with Rydberg transitions allows high sensitivity and robust phase measurement of a microwave electric field, but it is typically limited to detection of discrete frequencies within the narrow bandwidth of Rydberg transitions. Here we demonstrate an atomic heterodyne scheme for continuous-frequency electric field measurement based on multilevel Rydberg atoms in a room-temperature vapor cell. Driven by two off-resonant microwaves acting as a tunable local oscillator field, the heterodyne receiver can retrieve the amplitude, phase, and frequency information of signal microwave in a continuous frequency band. In our experiment, the receiver achieves an electric field sensitivity of up to $1.5\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{V}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{Hz}}^{\ensuremath{-}1/2}$, 80-dB linear dynamic range, and over 1 GHz of continuous frequency range. We also demonstrate the reliable reception of continuously tunable phase-modulated carriers in the digital communication. This work will facilitate the application of atomic heterodyne in the areas such as radar technique, radio monitoring, and radio astronomy.
Rydberg quantum sensors are sensitive to radio-frequency fields across an ultra-wide frequency range spanning megahertz to terahertz electromagnetic waves resonant with Rydberg atom dipole transitions. Here, we demonstrate an atomic millimeter-wave heterodyne receiver employing continuous-wave lasers stabilized to an optical frequency comb. We characterize the atomic receiver in the W-band at a signal frequency of f = 95.992 512 GHz and demonstrate a sensitivity of 7.9 μV/m/Hz with a linear dynamic range in power greater than 70 dB. We develop frequency selectivity metrics for atomic receivers and demonstrate their use in our millimeter-wave receiver, including signal rejection levels at signal frequency offsets Δf/f = 10−4, 10−5, and 10−6; 3, 6, 9, and 12-dB bandwidths; filter roll-off; and shape factor analysis. Our work represents an important advance toward future studies and applications of atomic receiver science and technology in weak millimeter-wave and high-frequency signal detection.
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.