Rydberg Atomic Receiver for Wireless Physical Layer: A Survey

Abstract

With the escalating development of the quantum information technologies, the Rydberg atomic receiver has been envisioned as a promising alternative to its classical electronic counterparts, attracting extensive attentions from both physics and electronic engineering disciplines. By exploiting the electrical acuteness of Alkali atoms with diverse Rydberg energy states for electromagnetic field measurement, Rydberg atomic receiver is capable of surmounting the inherent limitations on the operating bandwidth and detection sensitivity of the classical electronic counterparts. Against this background, this article provides an extensive overview of Rydberg atomic communication and sensing from fundamental theory, critical technologies to practical implementations. Firstly, the milestones of the Rydberg atomic receiver evolution was introduced. Then we provide a clear understanding of Rydberg atomic receiver mechanisms from the perspective of classical communication and sensing, and highlight the unprecedented advantages over traditional electronic receivers as well as the technical challenges. Afterwards, necessary fundamentals are presented including the Rydberg atoms, typical non-coherent/coherent structures, and explicit experimental configurations, followed by discussions on state-of-the-art development of the Rydberg atomic receiver. Specifically, advancements on electric-field detection methods for accurate measurement of amplitude, phase, frequency and polarization, are extensively investigated. Based on the established methodologies, recent innovations in Rydberg atomic communication and sensing are reviewed, ranging from waveform design and array-based signal processing to radar applications like localization, imaging and remote sensing, with practical experimental results presented. Finally, we summarize the promising research trends around Rydberg atomic receiver.

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Cite

BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{chen2026rydberg,
  title = {{Rydberg Atomic Receiver for Wireless Physical Layer: A Survey}},
  author = {Minze Chen and Mingyao Cui and Zhiao Zhu and Jingyi Feng and Haodong Zhang and Qunsong Zeng and Tianqi Mao and Dezhi Zheng and Kaibin Huang},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.25462},
  eprint = {2610.25462},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.25462},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Rydberg Atomic Receiver for Wireless Physical Layer: A Survey
AU  - Minze Chen
AU  - Mingyao Cui
AU  - Zhiao Zhu
AU  - Jingyi Feng
AU  - Haodong Zhang
AU  - Qunsong Zeng
AU  - Tianqi Mao
AU  - Dezhi Zheng
AU  - Kaibin Huang
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/18
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.25462
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.25462
AB  - With the escalating development of the quantum information technologies, the Rydberg atomic receiver has been envisioned as a promising alternative to its classical electronic counterparts, attracting extensive attentions from both physics and electronic engineering disciplines. By exploiting the electrical acuteness of Alkali atoms with diverse Rydberg energy states for electromagnetic field measurement, Rydberg atomic receiver is capable of surmounting the inherent limitations on the operating bandwidth and detection sensitivity of the classical electronic counterparts. Against this background, this article provides an extensive overview of Rydberg atomic communication and sensing from fundamental theory, critical technologies to practical implementations. Firstly, the milestones of the Rydberg atomic receiver evolution was introduced. Then we provide a clear understanding of Rydberg atomic receiver mechanisms from the perspective of classical communication and sensing, and highlight the unprecedented advantages over traditional electronic receivers as well as the technical challenges. Afterwards, necessary fundamentals are presented including the Rydberg atoms, typical non-coherent/coherent structures, and explicit experimental configurations, followed by discussions on state-of-the-art development of the Rydberg atomic receiver. Specifically, advancements on electric-field detection methods for accurate measurement of amplitude, phase, frequency and polarization, are extensively investigated. Based on the established methodologies, recent innovations in Rydberg atomic communication and sensing are reviewed, ranging from waveform design and array-based signal processing to radar applications like localization, imaging and remote sensing, with practical experimental results presented. Finally, we summarize the promising research trends around Rydberg atomic receiver.
ER  -

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