Photon-number correlation for quantum enhanced imaging and sensing

Meda, A.; Losero, Elena; Samantaray, N.; Scafirimuto, Fabio; Pradyumna, Siva T.; Avella, Alessio; Berchera, I. Ruo; Genovese, M.

doi:10.1088/2040-8986/aa7b27

Cited by 107 publications

(112 citation statements)

References 227 publications

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“…Furthermore, a demonstration of the quantum illumination protocol in which thermal light, as opposed to a coherent state, is used as the incoming parasitic light so as to better represent environmental light statistics would be a demonstration of the potential real-world applications of the quantum illumination protocol.In quantum imaging, commonly used properties are spatial quantum-correlations, which can be exploited to surpass the classical limits of imaging [12,13,14,15,16]. These quantum-correlations have been used in the case of NOON states for enhanced phase detection [17,18], through the use of definite number of photons, to improve the signal to noise ratio for measuring the absorption of objects through sub-shot-noise measurements [15,19,20,21], and to perform resolution-enhanced imaging by centroid estimation of photon-pairs [22]. Such schemes rely on the ability to detect and utilise quantum proprieties after the probed object, and are therefore sensitive to decoherence through the introduction of environmental noise and optical losses that lead to severe degradation of the quantum enhancement [23].…”

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confidence: 99%

Imaging through noise with quantum illumination

et al. 2020

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The contrast of an image can be degraded by the presence of background light and sensor noise.To overcome this degradation, quantum illumination protocols have been theorised (Science 321 (2008), Physics Review Letters 101 (2008)) that exploit the spatial correlations between photonpairs. Here we demonstrate the first full-field imaging system using quantum illumination, by an enhanced detection protocol. With our current technology we achieve a rejection of background and stray light of order 5 and also report an image contrast improvement up to a factor of 5.5, which is resilient to both environmental noise and transmission losses. The quantum illumination protocol differs from usual quantum schemes in that the advantage is maintained even in the presence of noise and loss. Our approach may enable laboratory-based quantum imaging to be applied to real-world applications where the suppression of background light and noise is important, such as imaging under low-photon flux and quantum LIDAR.Conventional illumination uses a spatially and temporally random sequence of photons to illuminate an object, whereas quantum illumination can use spatial correlations between pairs of photons to achieve performance enhancements in the presence of noise and/or losses. This enhancement is made possible by using detection techniques that preferentially select photon-pair events over isolated background events.The quantum illumination protocol was introduced by Lloyd [1], and generalized to Gaussian states by Tan et al. [2], where they proposed a practical version of the protocol. Quantum illumination has applications in the context of quantum information protocol such as secure communication [3,4] where it secures communication against passive eavesdropping techniques that take advantage of noise and losses. The protocol has also been proposed to be useful for detecting the presence of a target object embedded within a noisy background, despite environmental perturbations and losses destroying the initial entanglement [5,6,7].In 2013, Lopaeva et al. performed an experimental demonstration of the quantum illumination principle, to determine the presence or absence of a semi-transparent object, by exploiting intensity correlations of a quantum origin in the presence of thermal light [8]. Additionally, a quantum illumination protocol has been experimentally demonstrated in the microwave domain [9] and a further demonstration in which joint detection of the signal and idler is not required [10]. However, these previous demonstrations were restricted 1 to simply detecting the presence or absence of a target, rather than performing any form of spatially resolved imaging. The acquisition of an image using quantum illumination has recently been reported [11], but that demonstration was performed using a mono-mode source of correlations and by raster-scanning the object within this single-mode beam. The aforementioned demonstration may be seen as a qualitative assessment of the method but a full field imaging implementation of the qua...

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confidence: 99%

Imaging through noise with quantum illumination

et al. 2020

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“…In principle, each GI scheme that can be implemented with photon pairs may thus be realized also with classical light. However, due to the fundamentally different statistical properties of coherent and thermal light on one side and photon pairs, that is, number states, on the other side, differences in the SNR of the obtained images appear which point to a fundamental advantage in using photon pairs in this respect. Here, we will concentrate on the works that discuss QGI with photon pairs.…”

Section: Correlation‐based Quantum Imagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It was also shown experimentally, that this advantage is only possible in QGI and cannot be realized in similar ghost imaging schemes with classical light sources . The advantage of QGI with respect to classical GI is largest for small illumination levels, where the classical Poissonian statistics yields a large relative uncertainty, and for high detection efficiency and low absorption in the sample, that do not introduce Poissonian uncertainty outweighing this advantage. Thus, QGI seems to be especially suitable for imaging objects that are very sensitive to illumination, as it can extract a maximum of information from each photon passing the object.…”

Section: Correlation‐based Quantum Imagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perspectives for Applications of Quantum Imaging

Basset

Setzpfandt

Steinlechner

et al. 2019

Laser & Photonics Reviews

111

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Quantum imaging is a multifaceted field of research that promises highly efficient imaging in extreme spectral ranges as well as ultralow‐light microscopy. Since the first proof‐of‐concept experiments over 30 years ago, the field has evolved from highly fascinating academic research to the verge of demonstrating practical technological enhancements in imaging and microscopy. Here, the aim is to give researchers from outside the quantum optical community, in particular those applying imaging technology, an overview of several promising quantum imaging approaches and evaluate both the quantum benefit and the prospects for practical usage in the near future. Several use case scenarios are discussed and a careful analysis of related technology requirements and necessary developments toward practical and commercial application is provided.

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“…their photon number statistics, the squeezing or sub-shotnoise properties, up to entanglement quantification), and of the detectors operating at the single-or few-photon level. On the other side, the optical metrology has the opportunity to exploit the peculiar properties of quantum light to develop more accurate measurement, imaging and sensing techniques [11,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum imaging with sub-Poissonian light: challenges and perspectives in optical metrology

Berchera

Degiovanni

2019

Metrologia

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Non-classical correlations in optical beams offer the unprecedented opportunity of surpassing conventional limits of sensitivity and resolution in optical measurements and imaging, especially but not only, when a low photon flux down to the single photons are measured. We review the principles of quantum imaging and sensing techniques which exploit sub-Poissonian photon statistics and non-classical photon number correlation, presenting some state-of-the-art achievements in the field. These quantum photonics protocols have the potential to trigger major steps in many applications, such as microscopy and biophotonics and represent an important opportunity for a new deal in radiometry and photometry.Quantum imaging with sub-Poissonian light Limits of Classical (conventional) imagingMeasuring changes in intensity or in phase of an electromagnetic field, after interacting with matter, is the most simple way to extract relevant information on the properties of a system under investigation, whether a biological sample [18] or a digital memory disc [19].The term "imaging" usually (not always) refers to the reconstruction of the whole spatial properties of the sample, namely in 2D or 3D, and it can be achieved in two different modalities, wide field or point-by-point scanning. Wide field imaging is preferable in many cases, since it provides a more compete dynamic pictures but, for static sample, the point by point scanning offers advantages, for example the better z-resolution in confocal microscopy.In any case, the two parameters quantifying the quality (the amount of information) of the image are the resolution, i.e. the minimum distance at which two points can be distinguished, and the sensitivity, i.e. the minimum measurable variation of the physical quantity in a certain point.The quality of an image is always affected by several limitations, some of them avoidable by a careful design of the experiment (aberration, background, artifacts), others imposed by technical limitations of the available actual technology (for instance unavoidable noise or low efficiency of the detector), and others related to more fundamental reasons. In particular diffraction limit and shot-noise limit represent "fundamental" bounds, to resolution and sensitivity, at least when classical states of light are considered. A possibility to overcome these limitations is offered by peculiar properties of quantum light. Diffraction Limit (DL)The diffraction limit, R 0.61λ/N A (with λ being the wavelength of the light and N A the numerical aperture of the imaging system), represents the maximum obtainable imaging resolution in classical far-field imaging/microscopy. Depending on the kind of light radiation involved, namely incoherent or coherent, it takes the name of Abbe or Rayliegh diffraction limit, respectively.

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Photon-number correlation for quantum enhanced imaging and sensing

Cited by 107 publications

References 227 publications

Imaging through noise with quantum illumination

Imaging through noise with quantum illumination

Perspectives for Applications of Quantum Imaging

Quantum imaging with sub-Poissonian light: challenges and perspectives in optical metrology

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