Rydberg-based RF receivers are a class of emerging quantum technologies that are potentially capable of reception over an immensely broad carrier band (from HF/UHF to the millimeter-wave regime), high sensitivity, and passive operability within a single compact package.[1] Each of these attributes can, in turn, lend themselves to disruptive applications beyond the capabilities of conventional electro-optic, antenna-based, or plasmonic receivers. While the potential capabilities of Rydberg-based receivers have been validated to an extent within laboratory-scale proof-of-concept demonstrations, there are several technical challenges that need to be addressed en route to a viable DoW-relevant technology. Each of the particular attributes of Rydberg-based sensors that allow for beyond-SoA performance, i.e. all-optical tunability across orders of magnitude in reception frequency, quantum-limited sensitivity, coherent detection within compact vapor cells etc, also require the development of low-SWaP photonic and optolectronic systems for quantum state preparation and measurement; integrated optical frequency combs for wide tunability; and low-latency systems for control, measurement, and spectral analysis. At present, such quantum-enabling technologies have yet to demonstrate the stringent performance requirements needed to supplant larger, laboratory-scale infrastructure. This void has stymied the transition of such quantum devices to widely deployable, low-SWaP technologies as well as the future scalability of such systems to address a growing landscape of applications in atom-based sensing and PNT. In this context, ongoing programs at DARPA[2] are developing integrated photonic architectures ranging from on-chip narrow-linewidth laser sources and amplifiers at wavelengths of relevance to workhorse atomic species; microcomb-driven photonic integrated circuits for the stabilization and distribution of light; low-loss optical modulators and filters that could be harnessed for quantum state preparation, control and interrogation of atoms; and high-speed optical routing and processing architectures. Although the current performance of these enabling technologies is still some distance away from matching the performance of state-of-the-art laboratory-scale components, it is anticipated that continued progress in chip-scale photonics will lead to the maturation of these enabling technologies at a level that can match, and eventually surpass the performance of large-scale laboratory setups. It is also anticipated that the development of such chip-scale or integrated sub-systems can lead to advances and novel capabilities in deployable Rydberg-based quantum technologies that are not currently accessible with conventional antenna-based, electro-optic, or plasmonic techniques. The unique attributes of Rydberg-based RF receivers also pose challenges to the design and performance of control and signal processing architectures that are required to operationalize these systems. To achieve requisite levels of low-latency control, wideband signal processing, and autonomy of Rydberg-based devices, the aforementioned efforts on photonics will need to be complemented by innovative designs of low-latency system-on-chip (SoC) control and signal processing systems.[3] Further, in anticipation of the large landscape of applications for such receivers, it is preferable that such control and signal processing systems are co-designed in an application-oriented fashion, and compatible with an open-system architecture that enables seamless inter-operability of multiple application-specific control and signal processing architectures with the same photonic and optoelectronic system. This solicitation seeks to co-integrate Rydberg photonic systems with flexible low-latency control architectures for real-time measurement and processing of wideband RF signals for a low-SWaP and manufacturable platform for Rydberg atomic receivers.
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