Detecting and Receiving Phase-Modulated Signals With a Rydberg Atom-Based Receiver

The recent developments of Rydberg atom-based sensors with the ability to measure phase have made it possible to receive digital phase-modulated signals. In this letter, we demonstrate the reception of binary phase-shift keying, quadrature phase-shift keying, and quadrature amplitude modulation signals with an atom-based receiver. We present measured values of error vector magnitude as a function of symbol rate for various modulation schemes and discuss the bandwidth of a Rydberg atom-based receiver system. The results show that we can now interrogate ensembles of atoms to such extent that we can use them to receive data from a phase-modulated communication signal.