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arXiv:2402.00259 · Physical Review Applied

Optimum classical beam-position sensing

Wenhua He, Christos N. Gagatsos, Dalziel Joseph Wilson, Saikat Guha

Published Oct 16, 2024• 4 citations
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Abstract

This Letter addresses a canonical imaging problem: how to estimate a small transverse displacement of a laser beam as precisely as possible. This problem is central to many applications, including scanning-probe atomic force microscopy, free-space optical communication, and optomechanics. Based on the geometry of the imaging system, the center wavelength of the laser probe, and the return-path propagation length, the authors identify the optimal spatial mode in which to excite a laser probe, when paired with the most sensitive receiver allowed by quantum estimation theory. Several phase-sensitive, mode-resolving receivers that achieve the mentioned quantum precision limit are presented.

DOI
10.1103/physrevapplied.22.l041004

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•Aug 3, 2018•1 citation
This Letter addresses a canonical imaging problem: how to estimate a small transverse displacement of a laser beam as precisely as possible. This problem is central to many applications, including scanning-probe atomic force microscopy, free-space optical communication, and optomechanics. Based on the geometry of the imaging system, the center wavelength of the laser probe, and the return-path propagation length, the authors identify the optimal spatial mode in which to excite a laser probe, when paired with the most sensitive receiver allowed by quantum estimation theory. Several phase-sensitive, mode-resolving receivers that achieve the mentioned quantum precision limit are presented.
Estimation of an optical beam’s transverse displacement is a canonical imaging problem fundamental to numerous optical imaging and sensing tasks. Quantum enhancements to the measurement precision in this problem have been studied extensively. However, previous studies have neither accounted for diffraction loss in full generality, nor have they addressed how to jointly optimize the spatial mode and the balance between squeezing and coherent amplitude. Here we show that, in the small-displacement limit, the seemingly intractable infinite-spatial-mode problem can be reduced to a compact three-mode interaction framework. We quantify the improvement afforded by an optimized single-spatial-mode Gaussian-state probe over the optimal classical laser probe, and show that a two-spatial-mode homodyne receiver is asymptotically optimal for the former in the limit of high probe energy. Our findings reveal a strategy for identifying quantum-optimal probes in the presence of generic multimode linear probe-target interaction and photon loss.
Estimation of an optical beam's transverse displacement is a canonical imaging problem fundamental to numerous optical imaging and sensing tasks. Quantum enhancements to the measurement precision in this problem have been studied extensively. However, previous studies have neither accounted for diffraction loss in full generality, nor have they addressed how to jointly optimize the spatial mode and the balance between squeezing and coherent amplitude. Here we show that, in the small-displacement limit, the seemingly intractable infinite-spatial-mode problem can be reduced to a compact three-mode interaction framework. We quantify the improvement afforded by an optimized single-spatial-mode Gaussian-state probe over the optimal classical laser probe, and show that a two-spatial-mode homodyne receiver is asymptotically optimal for the former in the limit of high probe energy. Our findings reveal a strategy for identifying quantum-optimal probes in the presence of generic multimode linear probe-target interaction and photon loss.
We consider estimating a small transverse displacement of an optical beam over a line-of-sight propagation path: a problem that has numerous important applications ranging from establishing a lasercom link, single-molecule tracking, guided munition, to atomic force microscopy. We establish the ultimate quantum limit of the accuracy of sensing a beam displacement, and quantify the classical-quantum gap. Further, using normal-mode decomposition of the Fresnel propagation kernel, and insights from recent work on entanglement-assisted sensing, we find a near-term realizable multi-spatio-temporal-mode continuous-variable entangled-state probe and a receiver design, which attains the quantum precision limit. We find a Heisenberg-limited sensitivity enhancement in terms of the number of entangled temporal modes, and a curious super-Heisenberg quantum enhanced scaling in terms of the number of entangled spatial modes permitted by the diffraction-limited beam propagation geometry.
For more than a century, the diffraction limit has defined the resolution achievable by passive optical imaging systems. Although some resolution improvement can be gained through classical data processing of the image, it is limited by the noise arising from quantum nature of light. Minimizing the effect of this noise requires quantum treatment of optical imaging. By reformulating imaging as a problem of quantum measurement and estimation, it becomes possible to identify optimal detection strategies that recover spatial information previously thought inaccessible. This review summarizes the theoretical framework that underpins this development, from the formulation of quantum Cramer-Rao bounds and Chernoff bounds to the construction of receivers that attain them, such as those based on spatial-mode demultiplexing. We show how these methods can beat conventional imaging in the classification, localization, and imaging of sub-Rayleigh incoherent sources. We then discuss extensions to multiparameter and partially coherent scenarios, and highlight the unifying connections between estimation and discrimination tasks. Finally, we survey recent experimental demonstrations that approach quantum-limited resolution and outline emerging applications in microscopy, astronomy, and optical sensing.
Tracking small transverse displacements of an optical beam with ultra-high accuracy is a fundamental problem underlying numerous important applications ranging from pointing, acquisition and tracking for establishing a lasercom link, to atomic force microscopy for imaging with atomic-scale resolution. Determining what is the optimal quantum-optical probe and the best achievable sensitivity of measuring a small transverse optical beam displacement, is the fundamental question central to these sensing schemes. By mapping this problem to an array of nested Mach-Zehnder interferometers, we explicitly construct the optimal probe state. It is entangled across the spatial modes allowed within the Fresnel number product of the propagation geometry, and entangled across the temporal modes within the time-bandwidth product of the optical probe. We show that the optimal sensitivity of measuring the beam displacement achieves a Heisenberg limited scaling over both the number of temporal modes and the average number of photons transmitted per mode. Surprisingly, we discover a sub-Heisenberg limited scaling over the number of available spatial modes. To qualify the quantum enhancement, we also establish the optimal sensitivity of a classical-light probe, which gives shot-noise limit over both the number of temporal modes and the number of photons per mode, and Heisenberg limited scaling over the number of spatial modes. Finally, we construct an explicit design for quantum-enhanced beam tracking, which uses a Gaussian (multi-mode-entangled squeezed-state) probe and a Gaussian (multi-mode homodyne) receiver.