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arXiv:1105.5480 · New Journal of Physics

Parallel interaction-free measurement using spatial adiabatic passage

Charles D. Hill, Andrew D. Greentree, Lloyd C. L. Hollenberg

Published Dec 6, 2011• 7 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Interaction-free measurement (IFM) is a surprising consequence of quantum interference, where the presence of objects can be sensed without any disturbance of the object being measured. Here, we show an extension of IFM using techniques from spatial adiabatic passage, specifically multiple recipient adiabatic passage. Due to subtle properties of the adiabatic passage, it is possible to image an object without interaction between the imaging photons and the sample. The technique can be used on multiple objects in parallel and is entirely deterministic in the adiabatic limit. Unlike more conventional IFM schemes, this adiabatic process is driven by the symmetry of the system, and not by more usual interference effects. As such it provides an interesting alternative quantum protocol that may be applicable to photonic implementations of spatial adiabatic passage. We also show that this scheme can be used to implement a collision-free quantum routing protocol.

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/13/12/125002

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Interaction-free measurement (IFM) is a surprising consequence of quantum interference, where the presence of objects can be sensed without any disturbance of the object being measured. Here, we show an extension of IFM using techniques from spatial adiabatic passage, specifically multiple recipient adiabatic passage. Due to subtle properties of the adiabatic passage, it is possible to image an object without interaction between the imaging photons and the sample. The technique can be used on multiple objects in parallel and is entirely deterministic in the adiabatic limit. Unlike more conventional IFM schemes, this adiabatic process is driven by the symmetry of the system, and not by more usual interference effects. As such it provides an interesting alternative quantum protocol that may be applicable to photonic implementations of spatial adiabatic passage. We also show that this scheme can be used to implement a collision-free quantum routing protocol.
Summary form only given.Using the complementary wave-like and particle-like natures of photons, one can make interaction-free measurements (IFM)-the presence of an object can be determined with no photons being absorbed. By using an application of the quantum Zeno effect (weakly and repeatedly testing for the object's presence so that the otherwise coherent evolution of the interrogating photon is inhibited), we have demonstrated the feasibility of IFMs with an efficiency of >85%, higher than that possible in the original IFM scheme, where, at most, half of the measurements could be interaction free. We also investigate various interaction-free imaging systems, demonstrate imaging with a resolution <5 /spl mu/m, and define the limits to these systems. We also discuss in which sense interaction-free measurements really are not.
Quantum imaging, one of the pillars of quantum technologies, is well suited to study sensitive samples which require low-light conditions, like biological tissues. In this context, interaction-free measurements (IFM) allow us to infer the presence of an opaque object without the photon interacting with the sample. Current IFM schemes are designed for single-pixel objects, while real-life samples are structured, multipixel objects. Here we extend the IFM imaging schemes to multipixel, semitransparent objects, by encoding the information about the pixels into an internal degree of freedom, namely orbital angular momentum. This allows us to image the pixels in parallel. Our solution exhibits a better theoretical efficiency than the single-pixel case. Our scheme can be extended to other degrees of freedom, like the photon radial quantum number, in order to image one-dimensional (1D) and 2D objects.
"Interaction-free measurements" (IFM) originate from the latest quantum interferometric technologies. The latest research of quantum optics demonstrates, by using the complementary wavelike and particlelike natures of photons, it is possible to make interaction-free measurements by which the presence of an object can be determined with no photons being absorbed. The paper introduces the concept of "Interaction-free Measurement" (IFM), the original Elitzur-Vaidman scheme, the "High Efficiency Interaction-free Measurement", the application of quantum Zeno effect and the improved scheme proposed by Kwiat et al. The EV scheme is implemented in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Theoretically this paper also draws a conclusion in IFM feasibility by analyzing the wave functions of photon at various locations in the interferometer.
Although interference is a classical-wave phenomenon, the superposition principle, which underlies interference of individual particles, is at the heart of quantum physics. An interaction-free measurement (IFM) harnesses the wave-particle duality of single photons to sense the presence of an object via the modification of the interference pattern, which can be accomplished even if the photon and the object have not interacted with each other. By using the quantum Zeno effect, the efficiency of an IFM can be made arbitrarily close to unity. Here we report an on-chip realization of the IFM based on silicon photonics. We exploit the inherent advantages of the lithographically written waveguides (excellent interferometric phase stability and mode matching) and obtain multipath interference with visibility above 9898%98. We achieved a normalized IFM efficiency up to 68.268.2%68.2, which exceeds the 5050%50 limit of the original IFM proposal.
Using a hybrid of a simple interference technique and an application of the quantum Zeno effect, it is possible to optically determine the presence of an absorbing object with an arbitrarily low probability that a photon is actually absorbed. We have demonstrated the feasibility of systems in which up to 85% of the measurements could be “interaction-free”. Also, we have started investigating the possibility of using these techniques to allow “interaction-free” imaging of objects; our prototype schemes have shown resolutions of less than 10 µm. Finally, we present a curious phenomenon that occurs when the object in question is only partially transmitting, which should allow a seeming violation of Beer’s law.
The phenomenon of interaction-free measurement (IFM) enables the probabilistic detection of an absorbing object with reduced photon absorption. We report the experimental implementation of a generalized IFM of multiple objects using a single quantum probe on the cloud-based Ascella photonic processor developed by Quandela. We demonstrate sequential IFM of up to 5 emulated absorbers using a single photon, significantly extending the original IFM scheme for a single object. The experimental error-mitigated results confirm the theoretical predictions for this sequential IFM setup, and demonstrate a practical approach to scaling IFM to more complex quantum interrogation tasks.