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arXiv:2505.04901 · Physical Review A

Enhanced-resolution chirped-pulse interferometry

M. M. Bérubé, Michael D. Mazurek, Kevin J. Resch

Published Aug 7, 2025• 1 citation
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Abstract

Chirped-pulse interferometry (CPI) is a classical low-coherence interferometry technique with automatic dispersion cancellation and improved resolution over white-light interference. Previous work showed that CPI with linearly chirped Gaussian laser pulses achieves a $\sqrt{2}$ improvement in resolution over conventional white-light interferometry, but this is less than the factor of 2 improvement exhibited by a comparable quantum technique. In this work, we show how a particular class of nonlinearly chirped laser pulses can meet, and even exceed, the factor of 2 improvement in resolution. This enhanced-resolution CPI removes the resolution advantage of quantum interferometers in dispersion-cancelled interferometry.

DOI
10.1103/5vd5-srqg

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Chirped-pulse interferometry (CPI) is a classical low-coherence interferometry technique with automatic dispersion cancellation and improved resolution over white-light interference. Previous work showed that CPI with linearly chirped Gaussian laser pulses achieves a 2\sqrt{2}2​ improvement in resolution over conventional white-light interferometry, but this is less than the factor of 2 improvement exhibited by a comparable quantum technique. In this work, we show how a particular class of nonlinearly chirped laser pulses can meet, and even exceed, the factor of 2 improvement in resolution. This enhanced-resolution CPI removes the resolution advantage of quantum interferometers in dispersion-cancelled interferometry.
Interference has long been used for precision measurement of path-length changes. Since the advent of the laser, interference has become one of the most versatile tools in metrology. Specifically, ultra-short laser pulses allow unprecedented resolution in absolute length measurements. While ultra-short laser pulses lead to high resolution, for example in white-light interferometry, they are very susceptible to dispersion. \n \nQuantum resources have been proposed to overcome some of the problems related to distortions in the interferometric signal. For example, the Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interferometer relies on frequency-entangled photon pairs and features automatic even-order dispersion cancellation and high interference visibility resilient to unbalanced loss. Quantum-OCT is a technique based on HOM interferometry, that promises to overcome Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) a classical imaging technique based on low coherence light. Furthermore, straightforward modifications of the HOM interferometer can display several different interferometric signals, including the HOM peak, quantum beating, and phase super-resolution. However, the quantum resources required are hard to produce and dim, leading to long integration times and single-photon counting. \n \nIn this thesis, we introduce the theory behind Chirped-Pulse Interferometry (CPI), a new technique that combines all the advantages of Q-OCT, including even-order dispersion cancellation, but without the need for any quantum resources. We then experimentally implement CPI and demonstrate all the important characteristics shared by the HOM interferometer, but at dramatically larger signal levels. We show how CPI can be used to measure dispersion cancelled axial profiles of an optical sample and show the improvement in resolution over white-light interferometry. Finally, we show that by modifying CPI in analogous ways to HOM, CPI can also be made to produce interferometric signal identical to the HOM peak, quantum beating, and phase super-resolution.
Quantum-optical coherence tomography (Q-OCT) is an interferometric technique for axial imaging offering several advantages over conventional methods. Chirped-pulse interferometry (CPI) was recently demonstrated to exhibit all of the benefits of the quantum interferometer upon which Q-OCT is based. Here we use CPI to measure axial interferograms to profile a sample accruing the important benefits of Q-OCT, including automatic dispersion cancellation, but with 10 million times higher signal. Our technique solves the artifact problem in Q-OCT and highlights the power of classical correlation in optical imaging.
Chirped-pulse interferometry (CPI) captures the metrological advantages of quantum Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interferometry in a completely classical system. Modified HOM interferometers are the basis for a number of seminal quantum-interference effects. Here, the corresponding modifications to CPI allow for the first observation of classical analogues to the HOM peak and quantum beating. They also allow a new classical technique for generating phase super-resolution exhibiting a coherence length dramatically longer than that of the laser light, analogous to increased two-photon coherence lengths in entangled states.
Here we report on a completely classical technique based on the time-reversal symmetry of quantum mechanics that achieves all the advantages of HOM interferometry by using oppositely-chirped laser pulses. Since our technique relies on classical lasers instead of entangled photons, it achieves these features with millions of times larger signal making it an attractive candidate for dispersion-free OCT. In particular, the visibility and width of the CPI interferogram is insensitive to dispersion and photon loss, and inherently robust against phase-fluctuations. Further, we achieve higher resolution than classical interferometers using the same bandwidth. On a fundamental level, our work emphasizes the importance of delineating truly quantum effects from those with classical analogues, and shows how insights gained from quantum mechanics can inspire novel classical technologies.
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