Rydberg atoms detect and demodulate ordinary radio/ walkie-talkie signals across DC to THz frequency range by changing laser settings

https://phys.org/news/2026-02-rydberg-atoms-handheld-radio.html

"uses lasers to excite rubidium or cesium atoms in glass vapor cell... radio waves from handheld device hit these atoms causing change in atoms' energy levels... monitoring these changes with lasers enables radio signals to be read... simultaneously detects/ distinguishes between all 22 channels, >53 dB isolation between neighboring channels so picks out specific signal without interference from others... high sensitivity,.. vapor cell much smaller than large, specialized antennas... high signal-to-noise ratios"