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arXiv:0906.4828 · Physical Review Letters

Ultrasensitive Beam Deflection Measurement via Interferometric Weak Value Amplification

P. Ben Dixon, David J. Starling, Andrew N. Jordan, John C. Howell

Published Apr 27, 2009• 771 citations
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Abstract

We report on the use of an interferometric weak value technique to amplify very small transverse deflections of an optical beam. By entangling the beam's transverse degrees of freedom with the which-path states of a Sagnac interferometer, it is possible to realize an optical amplifier for polarization independent deflections. The theory for the interferometric weak value amplification method is presented along with the experimental results, which are in good agreement. Of particular interest, we measured the angular deflection of a mirror down to 400+/-200 frad and the linear travel of a piezo actuator down to 14+/-7 fm.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.102.173601

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We report on the use of an interferometric weak value technique to amplify small transverse deflections of an optical beam. Our techniques consists of coupling the beam’s transverse degrees of freedom to the which-path states of a Sagnac interferometer. The theory for the amplification, including signal to noise ratio considerations, is presented along with the experimental results which are in good agreement. Of particular interest, we measured the angular deflection of a mirror down to 560 femtoradians and showed the signal to noise ratio to be amplified by a factor of 150.
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