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Optics Express

Rydberg-atom-based multiband frequency-hopping communication receiver using five-level atomic system

Wen Wen, Shaochen Yan, Ruiqiong Wang, X. F. Li, Jiajun Tan, Xiaoyan Pang, Weile Zhai, Wanzhao Cui, Yongsheng Gao

Published Oct 30, 2024• 11 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A frequency-hopping communication receiver based on Rydberg atoms, whose carrier frequency changes in accordance with a predetermined sequence, is proposed for what we believe to be the first time and experimentally verified. Based on the coherent population trapping (CPT) effect of atoms, a five-level system is built under the assumption of a constant laser wavelength, where the carrier is the resonance band corresponding to different separated quantum states. Pseudo-random binary sequence (PRBS) and complex image signals undergo keying modulation to achieve frequency-domain hopping reception. In the experiment, a dynamic range of 62 dB is demonstrated. The digital transmission with a data rate of 1 Mbps is performed reliably, within a tunable bandwidth of 50 MHz, an instantaneous bandwidth of 700 kHz and a max hopping rate of 20000 hop/s. The proposed atom-based frequency-hopping receiver is suitable for secure communications, satellite uplinks, quantum cryptography, and high-precision scientific research.

DOI
10.1364/oe.538710

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A frequency-hopping communication receiver based on Rydberg atoms, whose carrier frequency changes in accordance with a predetermined sequence, is proposed for what we believe to be the first time and experimentally verified. Based on the coherent population trapping (CPT) effect of atoms, a five-level system is built under the assumption of a constant laser wavelength, where the carrier is the resonance band corresponding to different separated quantum states. Pseudo-random binary sequence (PRBS) and complex image signals undergo keying modulation to achieve frequency-domain hopping reception. In the experiment, a dynamic range of 62 dB is demonstrated. The digital transmission with a data rate of 1 Mbps is performed reliably, within a tunable bandwidth of 50 MHz, an instantaneous bandwidth of 700 kHz and a max hopping rate of 20000 hop/s. The proposed atom-based frequency-hopping receiver is suitable for secure communications, satellite uplinks, quantum cryptography, and high-precision scientific research.
Up to now, the measurement of radio-frequency (RF) electric field achieved using the electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT) of Rydberg atoms has proved to be of high-sensitivity and shows a potential to produce a promising atomic RF receiver at resonance between two chosen Rydberg states. In this paper, we study the extension of the feasibility of digital communication via this quantum-based antenna over a continuously tunable RF-carrier at off-resonance. Our experiment shows that the digital communication at a rate of 500 kbps can be performed reliably within a tunable bandwidth of 200 MHz near a 10.22 GHz carrier. Outside of this range, the bit error rate (BER) increases, rising to, for example, 15% at an RF-detuning of ±150 MHz. In the measurement, the time-varying RF field is retrieved by detecting the optical power of the probe laser at the center frequency of RF-induced symmetric or asymmetric Autler-Townes splitting in EIT. Prior to the digital test, we studied the RF-reception quality as a function of various parameters including the RF detuning and found that a choice of linear gain response to the RF-amplitude can suppress the signal distortion. The modulating signal can be decoded at speeds up to 500 kHz in the tunable bandwidth. Our test consolidates the physical basis for reliable communication and spectral sensing over a wider broadband RF-carrier, which paves a way for the concurrent multi-channel communications founded on the same pair of Rydberg states.
We demonstrate an atom-based amplitude-modulation (AM) receiver for digital communication with a weak continuous frequency carrier using a Rydberg AC Stark effect in a vapor cell and achieve the operating carrier frequency continuously from 0.1 GHz to 5 GHz at a single Rydberg state. A strong local oscillator (LO) field E LO acts as a gain to shift the Rydberg level to a high sensitivity region, and a weak carrier field E Carr keeps the same frequency with the LO field. The digital baseband signals are encoded onto the E Carr using the amplitude modulation technique with the different modulation frequency. The response of Rydberg atom to the baseband signal is probed via a Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). The measured instantaneous bandwidth of the system is about 230 kHz. To demonstrate the performance of our system for an actual communication, we consider a color image as an example, the received image displays that the bit error rate (BER) is less than 5% when the maximum data transfer rate is about 238 kbps. Meanwhile, our system shows the weak carrier field of E Carr ≥ 13.52 μ V/cm can be used for the practical communication with BER less than 5%. Our works break the limitation that EIT-AT based atomic receivers only operate at the near resonant frequencies of the Rydberg transitions, making this emerging of quantum technology close to the practical application with high sensitivity and broad bandwidth.
We present a Rydberg atom-based receiver with amplitude modulation (AM) technique for the fifth-generation (5G) millimeter-wave wireless communication in a five-level85\bm {^{85}}85Rb atomic coherent system. The carrier microwave (C-MW) field at frequency of 24.12 GHz, corresponding to the 5G millimeter-wave wireless communication band, is encoded by AM technique, and then decoded by Rydberg atom-based receiver with the assistance of an auxiliary microwave (A-MW) field. An atomic response to the C-MW field linking to the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of decoded signal, which plays a prerequisite role in 5G millimeter-wave wireless communication with large data transfer capacity, is obtained by investigating the optimal powers of probe laser, coupling laser, and A-MW field. Also, an appropriate AM frequency of 10 kHz, which has an influence on the data transfer capacity, is acquired with 54 dB SNR of decoded signal. Under the abovementioned experimental conditions, the maximum data transfer capacity of 82.5 kbit/s is achieved when the C-MW field power tends to saturate. The bandwidth of Rydberg atom-based receiver is determined as 3.5 GHz, and the instantaneous bandwidth is approximately 106.3 kHz. As a result, 5G signals on three waveforms are transferred with high fidelity, frequency recovery rate, and time synchronization to verify the performance of this receiver for an actual communication. This scheme provides an effective approach for realizing 5G millimeter-wave wireless communication with wide bandwidth, large data transfer capacity, and high fidelity.
Communication technologies advance toward secure communication, with frequency hopping communication (FH-C) widely used. However, traditional FH-C is limited by slow hopping speed, narrow bandwidth, and a few hopping points. Rydberg atoms offer a solution but face challenges like poor non-resonant microwave sensitivity and local oscillator synchronization limits. Here, we propose a frequency-hopping receiver based on atomic heterodyne detection that employs high orbital angular momentum (high-OAM) Rydberg states for resonant detection of rapidly hopping radio-frequency signals across multiple, widely separated frequency bands. The high-OAM Rydberg atoms ( l =3,4,5) resonantly detect 315 MHz, 1.7 GHz, and 29.74 GHz RF hopping signals (spanning 6 octaves). With heterodyne detection and a continuous excitation scheme, the system eliminates spectral establishment time, achieving 60 khops/s without transmitter-receiver synchronization, and uses frequency combs to extend hopping points to 5 MHz around resonant frequencies. These advances demonstrate the potential of Rydberg-atom–based receivers for high-speed and wide-band frequency-hopping communication.
Rydberg atoms can serve as an atomic radio frequency receiver for digital and analog information transmission. In this paper, a ladder-type electromagnetically induced transparency system is prepared in a room temperature cesium atomic vapor cell. Microwave electric fields in the Ku band at a frequency of 12.52 GHz and the Ka band at a frequency of 39.80 GHz are used as two-channel communication carriers to demonstrate concurrent information transmission. Analog and digital communications are demonstrated by performing audio and pseudo-random binary sequence signal transmission, respectively. The dynamic range of the proposed system is ∼50 dB, and the communication bandwidth is more than 10 MHz. The obtained results demonstrate the fundamental principles of two- or multi-band communication systems based on different Rydberg final states.
Ultra-broadband anti-jamming communication represents a promising approach to secure and robust information transfer through spread-spectrum techniques, effectively combatting malicious interference and eavesdropping. Rydberg atoms, enhanced by waveguide coupling, facilitate ultra-broadband spectrum sensing without traditional RF components. This framework provides an experimental platform for ultra-wide anti-jamming communication. Here, we demonstrate real-time signal demodulation based on frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) in a waveguide-coupled Rydberg receiver, achieving ultra-broad frequency-hopping covering 100 kHz to 20 GHz and a hopping rate of 100 khop/s. When confined to a standard operational band (e.g., the 2.4 GHz ISM band), our system achieves a high channel density of 8 channels per MHz. Beyond this, by leveraging its ultra-broad and continuous bandwidth, the system supports over 150,000 channels. Experimental results reveal a 51 dB enhancement in narrowband interference tolerance compared with single-frequency systems, confirming its outstanding anti-jamming capability. The reported system demonstrates significant potential for secure communications based on quantum technology, especially communication in complex electromagnetic environments.