Abstract
N00N states—maximally path-entangled states of 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.
- Received 6 December 2013
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.223602
© 2014 American Physical Society
Viewpoint
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.
See more in Physics