Recent developments in atomic physics have enabled the experimental generation of many-body entangled states to boost the performance of quantum sensors beyond the Standard Quantum Limit (SQL). This limit is imposed by the inherent projection noise of a quantum measurement. In this Perspective article, we describe the commonly used experimental methods to create many-body entangled states to operate quantum sensors beyond the SQL. In particular, we focus on the potential of applying quantum entanglement to state-of-the-art optical atomic clocks. In addition, we present recently developed time-reversal protocols that make use of complex states with high quantum Fisher information without requiring sub-SQL measurement resolution. We discuss the prospects for reaching near-Heisenberg limited quantum metrology based on such protocols.
Recent developments in atomic physics have enabled the experimental generation of many-body entangled states to boost the performance of quantum sensors beyond the Standard Quantum Limit (SQL). This limit is imposed by the inherent projection noise of a quantum measurement. In this Perspective article, we describe the commonly used experimental methods to create many-body entangled states to operate quantum sensors beyond the SQL. In particular, we focus on the potential of applying quantum entanglement to state-of-the-art optical atomic clocks. In addition, we present recently developed time-reversal protocols that make use of complex states with high quantum Fisher information without requiring sub-SQL measurement resolution. We discuss the prospects for reaching near-Heisenberg limited quantum metrology based on such protocols.
Optical atomic clocks with unrivaled precision and accuracy have advanced the frontier of precision measurement science and opened new avenues for exploring fundamental physics. A fundamental limitation on clock precision is the standard quantum limit (SQL), which stems from the uncorrelated projection noise of each atom. State-of-the-art optical lattice clocks interrogate large ensembles to minimize the SQL, but density-dependent frequency shifts pose challenges to scaling the atom number. The SQL can be surpassed, however, by leveraging entanglement, though it remains an open problem to achieve quantum advantage from spin squeezing at state-of-the-art stability levels. Here, we demonstrate clock performance beyond the SQL, achieving a fractional frequency precision of 1.1×10^{-18} for a single spin-squeezed clock. With cavity-based quantum nondemolition measurements, we prepare two spin-squeezed ensembles of ∼30 000 strontium atoms confined in a two-dimensional optical lattice. A synchronous clock comparison with an interrogation time of 61 ms achieves a metrological improvement of 2.0(2) dB beyond the SQL, after correcting for state preparation and measurement errors. These results establish the most precise entanglement-enhanced clock to date and offer a powerful platform for exploring the interplay of gravity and quantum entanglement.
Entanglement-enhanced quantum metrology explores the utilization of quantum entanglement to enhance measurement precision. When particles in a probe are prepared into a suitable quantum entangled state, they may collectively accumulate information about the physical quantity to be measured, leading to an improvement in measurement precision beyond the standard quantum limit and approaching the Heisenberg limit. The rapid advancement of techniques for quantum manipulation and detection has enabled the generation, manipulation, and detection of multi-particle entangled states in synthetic quantum systems such as cold atoms and trapped ions. This article aims to review and illustrate the fundamental principles and experimental progresses that demonstrate multi-particle entanglement for quantum metrology, as well as discuss the potential applications of entanglement-enhanced quantum sensors.
Quantum entanglement has been generated and verified in cold-atom experiments
and used to make atom-interferometric measurements below the shot-noise limit.
However, current state-of-the-art cold-atom devices exploit separable (i.e.
unentangled) atomic states. This perspective piece asks the question: can
entanglement usefully improve cold-atom sensors, in the sense that it gives new
sensing capabilities unachievable with current state-of-the-art devices? We
briefly review the state-of-the-art in precision cold-atom sensing, focusing on
clocks and inertial sensors, identifying the potential benefits entanglement
could bring to these devices, and the challenges that need to be overcome to
realize these benefits. We survey demonstrated methods of generating
metrologically-useful entanglement in cold-atom systems, note their relative
strengths and weaknesses, and assess their prospects for near-to-medium term
quantum-enhanced cold-atom sensing.
Quantum entanglement has been generated and verified in cold-atom experiments and used to make atom-interferometric measurements below the shot-noise limit. However, current state-of-the-art cold-atom devices exploit separable (i.e., unentangled) atomic states. This perspective piece asks the question: can entanglement usefully improve cold-atom sensors, in the sense that it gives new sensing capabilities unachievable with current state-of-the-art devices? We briefly review the state-of-the-art in precision cold-atom sensing, focusing on clocks and inertial sensors, identifying the potential benefits entanglement could bring to these devices, and the challenges that need to be overcome to realize these benefits. We survey demonstrated methods of generating metrologically useful entanglement in cold-atom systems, note their relative strengths and weaknesses, and assess their prospects for near-to-medium term quantum-enhanced cold-atom sensing.
High-bandwidth, high-stability clocks offer unique chances to study fundamental physics beyond simple metrology. Today, the most stable clocks are optical lattice clocks and they can reach a fractional stability of 3.1 × 10^−18 at 1 s averaging time. Their applications are ranging from the redefinition of the SI time unit, the Second, to the possible detection of gravitational waves in space. The stability of optical lattice clocks is primarily limited by quantum projection noise and Dick noise. In this thesis, I present our effort in creating a platform for studying quantum enhanced metrology and its application towards optical lattice clocks. We demonstrated the laser cooling in an optical cavity with Raman-sideband cooling and achieved average vibration number of n = 0.2. We utilized cavity feedback squeezing to demonstrate unitary spin squeezing on magnetic sub-levels of 171Yb, achieving 6.5 dB quantum projection noise reduction over the standard quantum limit (SQL). With coherent optical state transfer by ultra stable laser pulses, we successfully transferred the spin squeezed state from magnetic sub-levels to the optical transition, and demonstrated quantum enhanced metrology in the optical lattice clock for the first time. We achieved 4.4 dB of metrological gain over the SQL, which corresponds to a reduction of the averaging time by a factor of 2.8 in clock operation. Furthermore, we studied quantum enhanced metrology with time-reversal-based protocols. We performed a signal amplification through time-reversed interaction protocol between the ground state magnetic sublevels of 171Yb, achieving the largest sensitivity improvement beyond SQL in any interferometers to date at 11.8dB. Besides that, we experimentally studied the connection between quantum information scrambling, by measuring out-of-time-order correlators (OTOCs), and quantum metrology, by measuring metrological gain. We found these values to agree with each other, and concluded that the time-reversal quantum metrology can saturate the attainable gain from the quantum information scrambling.
Atomic projection noise limits the ultimate precision of all atomic sensors, including clocks, inertial sensors, magnetometers, etc. The independent quantum collapse of N atoms into a definite state (for example spin up or down) leads to an uncertainty ΔθSQL= 1/√N in the estimate of the quantum phase accumulated during a Ramsey sequence or its many generalizations. This phase uncertainty is referred to as the standard quantum limit. Creating quantum entanglement between the N atoms can allow the atoms to partially cancel each other's quantum noise, leading to reduced noise in the phase estimate below the standard quantum limit. Recent experiments have demonstrated up to 10 dB of phase noise reduction relative to the SQL by making collective spin measurements. This is achieved by trapping laser-cooled Rb atoms in an optical cavity and precisely measuring the shift of the cavity resonance frequency by an amount that depends on the number of atoms in spin up. Detecting the probe light with high total efficiency reduces excess classical and quantum back-action of the probe. Here we discuss recent progress and a technique for reducing the relative frequency noise between the probe light and the optical cavity, a key requirement for further advances.