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Scalable Spatial Superresolution Using Entangled Photons

Lee A. Rozema, James D. Bateman, Dylan H. Mahler, Ryo Okamoto, Amir Feizpour, Alex Hayat, and Aephraim M. Steinberg
Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 223602 – Published 2 June 2014
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Abstract

N00N states—maximally path-entangled states of N photons—exhibit spatial interference patterns sharper than any classical interference pattern. This is known as superresolution. However, even given perfectly efficient number-resolving detectors, the detection efficiency of all previous measurements of such interference would decrease exponentially with the number of photons in the N00N state, often leading to the conclusion that N00N states are unsuitable for spatial measurements. A technique known as the “optical centroid measurement” has been proposed to solve this and has been experimentally verified for photon pairs; here we present the first extension beyond two photons, measuring the superresolution fringes of two-, three-, and four-photon N00N states. Moreover, we compare the N00N-state interference to the corresponding classical superresolution interference. Although both provide the same increase in spatial frequency, the visibility of the classical fringes decreases exponentially with the number of detected photons. Our work represents an essential step forward for quantum-enhanced measurements, overcoming what was believed to be a fundamental challenge to quantum metrology.

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  • Received 6 December 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.223602

© 2014 American Physical Society

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Scalable Imaging of Superresolution

Published 2 June 2014

Researchers have demonstrated a viable approach to efficiently observing superresolved spatial interference fringes that could improve the precision of imaging and lithography systems.

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Authors & Affiliations

Lee A. Rozema1,*, James D. Bateman1, Dylan H. Mahler1, Ryo Okamoto1,2,3, Amir Feizpour1, Alex Hayat1,4,5, and Aephraim M. Steinberg1,5

  • 1Centre for Quantum Information & Quantum Control and Institute for Optical Sciences, Department of Physics, University of Toronto, 60 Saint George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A7, Canada
  • 2Research Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido University, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan
  • 3The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, Osaka University, Mihogaoka 8-1, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047, Japan
  • 4Department of Electrical Engineering, Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel
  • 5Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1Z8, Canada

  • *Corresponding author. lrozema@physics.utoronto.ca

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Issue

Vol. 112, Iss. 22 — 6 June 2014

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