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Acta Physica Sinica

Chaos signal transmission based on atomic antennas

Zhao Chenhan, Nan SU, Yao LIU, Jun He, Zhan Defang, Zhihui Liu, Junmin Wang

Published Jan 1, 2025• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

To achieve multi-channel parallel transmission of complex signals and enhance spectral efficiency, this study presents a Rydberg atomic antenna system that can demonstrate multiplexed communication schemes. 852-nm and 509-nm lasers are used to excite cesium atoms into Rydberg states in a vapor cell, while employing differential detection techniques to suppress common-mode noise in order to obtain high signal-to-noise ratio electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) spectra. Under weak electric field conditions, microwave field coupling causes atomic energy level shifts, resulting in two-photon detuning and rendering the EIT transmission intensity almost linearly dependent on the microwave electric field strength. Based on this effect, the integrated electrode configuration in the atomic cell generates a time-varying electric field, which can measure the waveforms, amplitudes, and frequencies of microwave and low-frequency electric fields. According to this principle, we decompose complex chaotic signals into three-dimensional orthogonal electric field components in order to demonstrate time-division multiplexing (TDM) of three-channel signals. Meanwhile, frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) is realized by modulating the x -, y -, z - channels with 3 kHz, 5 kHz, and 4 kHz carriers, respectively. The quantitative analysis of the parameters related to the transmition signal and the reference signal reveals high-fidelity reconstruction, with the fidelity levels reaching 95% for TDM and 90% for FDM. These results validate the feasibility of using optical atomic antennas to reconstruct complex signal waveforms and emphasize the potential of Rydberg-based systems in high-performance electromagnetic field sensing and communication applications.

DOI
10.7498/aps.74.20250554

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To achieve multi-channel parallel transmission of complex signals and enhance spectral efficiency, this study presents a Rydberg atomic antenna system that can demonstrate multiplexed communication schemes. 852-nm and 509-nm lasers are used to excite cesium atoms into Rydberg states in a vapor cell, while employing differential detection techniques to suppress common-mode noise in order to obtain high signal-to-noise ratio electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) spectra. Under weak electric field conditions, microwave field coupling causes atomic energy level shifts, resulting in two-photon detuning and rendering the EIT transmission intensity almost linearly dependent on the microwave electric field strength. Based on this effect, the integrated electrode configuration in the atomic cell generates a time-varying electric field, which can measure the waveforms, amplitudes, and frequencies of microwave and low-frequency electric fields. According to this principle, we decompose complex chaotic signals into three-dimensional orthogonal electric field components in order to demonstrate time-division multiplexing (TDM) of three-channel signals. Meanwhile, frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) is realized by modulating the x -, y -, z - channels with 3 kHz, 5 kHz, and 4 kHz carriers, respectively. The quantitative analysis of the parameters related to the transmition signal and the reference signal reveals high-fidelity reconstruction, with the fidelity levels reaching 95% for TDM and 90% for FDM. These results validate the feasibility of using optical atomic antennas to reconstruct complex signal waveforms and emphasize the potential of Rydberg-based systems in high-performance electromagnetic field sensing and communication applications.
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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.
Rydberg atoms have been extensively utilized in microwave measurement with high sensitivity, which has great potential in the field of communication. In this study, we discuss the digital communication based on a Rydberg atomic receiver under simultaneously coupling by resonant and near detuning microwaves. In addition, we verify the feasibility of the Rydberg atom-based frequency division multiplexing (FDM) in microwave communication. We demonstrate the principle and performance of the atom-based FDM receiver by applying amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM), respectively. To demonstrate the actual communication performance at different data transfer rates, we consider monochromatic images as an example. The experimental results show that the maximum acceptable data transfer rate of both AM and FM is about 200 kbps, whereas their maximum bit error rates (BER) is less than 5%. When compared with the traditional electronic receiver, this atomic receiver, which is compatible with FDM, has numerous advantages, such as small size, low power consumption, and high sensitivity. Furthermore, this receiver has a strong ability of anti-electromagnetic interference, and the signals transmitted do not interfere with each other in different channels.
Rydberg atoms have emerged as a versatile and efficient platform for high-sensitivity quantum sensing of free-space electric fields, with remarkable progress in detecting low-frequency signals. To date, low-frequency Rydberg receivers have relied on a constant bias field, typically realized via intra-cell electrodes or Rydberg plasmas generated by photoelectric effects or inter-atomic interactions. While these approaches improve sensitivity, they suffer from inherent challenges in calibration, long-term stability, and robustness, hindering practical deployment. Here, we propose, design, and experimentally demonstrate a quantum sensing scheme for low-frequency electric signals using modulated auxiliary fields in Rydberg atoms. Unlike conventional methods that employ external DC electric fields that are often fully shielded by adsorbed atom layers on the cell walls, we introduce an AC-field modulation strategy. The incoming low-frequency signal mixes with the auxiliary field, and together they induce Stark shifts of the Rydberg level. These shifts are mapped onto the probe laser via electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), in a manner analogous to heterodyne detection. We demonstrate a sensitivity of 7.5±2.6 μV/(cm⋅Hz1/2)7.5 \pm 2.6~\mathrm{μV/(cm\cdot Hz^{1/2})}7.5±2.6 μV/(cm⋅Hz1/2) at 5 kHz and a minimal detectable field of 0.26±0.04 μV/cm0.26 \pm 0.04~\mathrm{μV/cm}0.26±0.04 μV/cm with an integration time of 1000 s. Furthermore, we extend this approach to systematically analyze the performance of generalized auxiliary fields containing multiple frequency components. By virtue of modulated auxiliary field and quantum frequency mixing, our results establish a robust and systematic framework for quantum sensing of low-frequency electric fields with Rydberg atoms, offering improved sensitivity, stability, and immunity to environmental drifts.
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A highly excited Rydberg atom via electromagnetically induced transparency with two color cascading lasers has extreme sensitivity to electric fields of microwave ranging from 100 MHz to over 1 THz. It can be used as susceptible atom-based microwave communication antennas where the carrier wave usually works exactly resonant to the transition between a pair of adjacent Rydberg states with large electric dipole moment. A technique of superheterodyne with a strong on-resonant local microwave oscillator is employed to induce considerable Autler-Townes splitting where the antennas has a highest dynamic response to another weak target signal microwave carrier. To further improve the sensitivity of atomic antenna in communication, we detune the carrier microwave frequency off resonance forming an asymmetrically optical splitting and fix the coupling laser frequency at the shoulder of the stronger one, and optimize the local field strength simultaneously. It gives a sensitivity of 12.50(04) nVcm−1⋅Hz−1/2\rm{nVcm^{-1}\cdot Hz^{-1/2}}nVcm−1⋅Hz−1/2. Its enhancement mechanism of sensitivity is also proved by a theoretical simulation.