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arXiv:1204.4638

Two-Photon Airy Disk

Wang, Hai-Bo, Xin-Bing Song, De-Qin Xu, Xiong, Jun, Xiangdong Zhang, Kaige Wang

Published Apr 20, 2012• 0 citations
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Abstract

We report an experimental observation of quantum Airy disk diffraction pattern using an entangled two-photon source. In contrast to the previous quantum lithography experiments where the subwavelength diffraction patterns were observed in the far field limit, we perform the Fraunhofer diffraction experiment with a convex lens. The experimental result shows that the two-photon Airy disk is provided with the super-resolution spot, which surpasses the classical diffraction limit. In particular, the spot size can be well controlled by the focal length, which adapted to optical super-focusing. Our experiment can promote potential application of quantum lithography.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1204.4638

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The resolution of optical scanning microscopes is limited by the spot size of the scanning beam. It has been proposed by Boto1 et al. and Nasr2 et al. that momentum entangled photons can be focused more tightly than classical light. Thus they should enable one to break the di ractive resolution limit. We report experiments measuring the spatial distribution of strong focussed momentum entangled photon pairs at a center wavelength of 812 nm from a spontaneous parametric down conversion source. Using a single gold stripe deposited on a glass surface as test object we observe a two-photon spot size as small as 194 nm, thereby beating the di raction limit even for conventional two-photon microscopy.
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High-precision measurements implemented with light are desired in all fields of science. However, light acts as a wave, and the Rayleigh criterion in classical optics yields a diffraction limit that prevents obtaining a resolution smaller than the wavelength. Sub-wavelength interference has potential application in lithography because it beats the classical Rayleigh resolution limit. Here, we carefully study second-order correlation theory to establish the physics behind sub-wavelength interference in photon coincidence detection. A Young's double slit experiment with pseudo-thermal light is performed to test the second-order correlation pattern. The results show that when two point detectors are scanned in different ways, super sub-wavelength interference patterns can be obtained. We then provide a theoretical explanation for this surprising result, and demonstrate that this explanation is also suitable for the results found for entangled light. Furthermore, we discuss the limitations of these types of super sub-wavelength interference patterns in quantum lithography.
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