Imaging using quantum noise properties of light

Jeremy B. Clark, Zhifan Zhou, Quentin Glorieux, Alberto M. Marino, Paul D. Lett

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

31 Scopus citations

Abstract

We show that it is possible to estimate the shape of an object by measuring only the fluctuations of a probing field, allowing us to expose the object to a minimal light intensity. This scheme, based on noise measurements through homodyne detection, is useful in the regime where the number of photons is low enough that direct detection with a photodiode is difficult but high enough such that photon counting is not an option. We generate a few-photon state of multi-spatial-mode vacuum-squeezed twin beams using four-wave mixing and direct one of these twin fields through a binary intensity mask whose shape is to be imaged. Exploiting either the classical fluctuations in a single beam or quantum correlations between the twin beams, we demonstrate that under some conditions quantum correlations can provide an enhancement in sensitivity when estimating the shape of the object.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)17050-17058
Number of pages9
JournalOptics Express
Volume20
Issue number15
DOIs
StatePublished - 16 Jul 2012
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

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