Quantum scaling atomic superheterodyne receiver

Abstract Measurement sensitivity is one of the critical indicators for Rydberg atomic radio receivers. This work quantitatively studies the relationship between the atomic superheterodyne receiver’s sensitivity and the number of atoms involved in the measurement. The atom number is changed by adjusting the length of the interaction area. The results show that for the ideal case where only interaction noise is present and the RF waves are uniformly distributed, the sensitivity of the atomic superheterodyne receiver exhibits a quantum scaling: the amplitude of its output signal is proportional to the atom number, and the amplitude of its read-out noise is proportional to the square root of the atom number. Hence, its sensitivity is inversely proportional to the square root of the atom number. This work also gives a detailed discussion of the properties of transit noise in atomic receivers and the influence of some non-ideal factors on sensitivity scaling. This work is significant in the field of atom-based quantum precision measurements.