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Rydberg single photon detection for probing 0.1-10 meV dark matter with BREAD

Abhishek Banerjee1,*, Reza Ebadi2,3,4,†, and Surjeet Rajendran2,‡

  • *Contact author: abanerj4@umd.edu
  • †Contact author: rebadi1@jhu.edu
  • ‡Contact author: srajend4@jhu.edu
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Phys. Rev. D 114, 055011 – Published 8 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/yj2s-v785

Abstract

We introduce a Rydberg-based single photon detector (SPD) for probing dark matter in the 0.1–10 meV mass range (20 GHz–2 THz). The Rydberg SPD absorbs photons produced and focused by the BREAD dish antenna and trades them for free, detectable electrons. At the lower end of the mass range, photons drive Rydberg-Rydberg transitions, which are read out via state-selective ionization. At higher masses, they directly ionize the Rydberg atoms.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 055011– Published 8 September, 2026
  • Received 23 January 2026
  • Accepted 7 August 2026
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