QuRA.space: a spin-off company from the lab
A new company building Rydberg-atom RF sensors for space missions.
News
ERC Starting Grant for Michał Parniak
Michał Parniak receives an ERC Starting Grant (€2M) for QURA – quantum sensors of microwave, millimetre-wave and terahertz fields.
Q-PLANET: a European pilot line for neutral-atom quantum chips
We join the Chips JU consortium building Europe’s first industrial pilot line for neutral-atom quantum technologies.
Background-free electric-field imaging with Rydberg fluorescence
Calibrated imaging of millimetre-wave fields, published in Optics Express.
G. Ko, W. Krokosz, M. Mazelanik, W. Wasilewski, and M. Parniak, Background-free calibrated electric-field imaging with Rydberg-state fluorescence and Autler-Townes splitting, Opt. Express 34, 25823 (2026). doi:10.1364/oe.601412
Microwave-field quantum metrology robust to detection losses, in Nature Communications
Rydberg interactions protect quantum-enhanced microwave sensing.
S. Kurzyna, B. Niewelt, M. Mazelanik, W. Wasilewski, R. Demkowicz-Dobrzański, and M. Parniak, Microwave-field quantum metrology with inherent robustness against detection losses enabled by Rydberg interactions, Nat. Commun. 17, 9013 (2026). doi:10.1038/s41467-026-76016-2
Ministry scholarships for Mateusz Mazelanik and Sebastian Borówka
Scholarships for outstanding young scientists from the Minister of Science.
Bartosz Kasza receives an SPIE award
The only laureate from a Polish university among 85 worldwide.
Five questions for Michał Parniak
From basic research on Rydberg atoms to an ESA project and a patent application.
A hybrid quantum memory, published in Physical Review A
Slow light meets gradient-echo storage.
S. Kurzyna, M. Mazelanik, W. Wasilewski, and M. Parniak, Hybrid quantum memory leveraging slow light and gradient echo duality, Phys. Rev. A 113, 063720 (2026). doi:10.1103/8wzh-jk9z
Podcast: “Cold atoms have beautiful advantages”
Michał Parniak on Rydberg atoms in the Pulsar podcast.
Rydberg-atom detector conquers a new spectral frontier
Calibrating a terahertz frequency comb with Rydberg atoms, published in Optica.
W. Krokosz, J. Nowosielski, B. Kasza, S. Borówka, M. Mazelanik, W. Wasilewski, and M. Parniak, Electric-field metrology of a terahertz frequency comb using Rydberg atoms, Optica 12, 1854 (2025). doi:10.1364/optica.578051
Quantum radio antenna, published in Nature Communications
An all-optical, self-calibrated Rydberg receiver powered only by laser light.
S. Borówka, M. Mazelanik, W. Wasilewski, and M. Parniak, Optically-biased Rydberg microwave receiver enabled by hybrid nonlinear interferometry, Nat. Commun. 16, 8975 (2025). doi:10.1038/s41467-025-63951-9
Michał Parniak comments on quantum radar in MIT Technology Review
On Rydberg-atom sensing of radio frequencies.
A superheterodyne Rydberg S-band receiver
A multi-tone local oscillator generated by an atomic transition loop.
J. Nowosielski, M. Mazelanik, W. Wasilewski, and M. Parniak, Superheterodyne Rydberg S-band receiver with a multi-tone local oscillator based on an atomic transition loop, Appl. Opt. 64, 5813 (2025). doi:10.1364/ao.557585
Sebastian Borówka receives a START scholarship with distinction
One of four START 2025 laureates distinguished for outstanding research.
A general solution for Rydberg receivers with fractured interferometric loops
Atomic-optical interferometry theory, published in Physical Review A.
B. Kasza, S. Borówka, W. Wasilewski, and M. Parniak, Atomic-optical interferometry in fractured loops: A general solution for Rydberg radio-frequency receivers, Phys. Rev. A 111, 053718 (2025). doi:10.1103/physreva.111.053718
Rector’s distinction for Michał Parniak
University of Warsaw Rector’s distinction for research.
Interview: “In physics, sensitivity matters”
Michał Parniak talks to Serwis Naukowy UW about quantum sensors.
“Rzeczpospolita Cyfrowa” distinction for Michał Parniak
For breakthrough solutions for quantum computing and telecommunications.
Quantum antennas for the European Space Agency
ESA commissions a prototype Rydberg-atom receiver from the lab.