Data capacity scaling of a distributed Rydberg atomic receiver array

The data transfer capacity of a communication channel is limited by the Shannon–Hartley theorem and scales as log₂(1 + SNR) for a single channel with a given power signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We implement an array of atom-optical receivers in a single-input-multi-output configuration by using spatially distributed probe light beams. The data capacity of the distributed receiver configuration is observed to scale as log₂(1 + N × SNR) for an array consisting of N receivers. Our result is independent of the modulation frequency, and we show that such enhancement of the bandwidth cannot be obtained by a single receiver with a similar level of combined optical power. We investigate both theoretically and experimentally the origins of the single channel capacity limit for our implementation.