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Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/Europe-EQEC)

Enhanced resolution of lossy interferometry by coherent amplification

Chiara Vitelli, Nicolò Spagnolo, Lorenzo Toffoli, F. De Martini, Fabio Sciarrino

Published May 1, 2011• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The aim of quantum sensing is to develop quantum methods to extract the maximum amount of information from a system with minimal disturbance upon it. Indeed, the possibility of performing precision measurements by adopting quantum resources can increase the achievable precision going beyond the semiclassical regime of operation. However the quantum states suitable for quantum metrology protocols, result extremely fragile under losses and decoherence, unavoidable in experimental implementations, destroying completely quantum benefits. This scenario puts the beating of realistic, noisy environments as the main challenge in developing quantum sensing.

DOI
10.1109/cleoe.2011.5943425

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The aim of quantum sensing is to develop quantum methods to extract the maximum amount of information from a system with minimal disturbance upon it. Indeed, the possibility of performing precision measurements by adopting quantum resources can increase the achievable precision going beyond the semiclassical regime of operation. However the quantum states suitable for quantum metrology protocols, result extremely fragile under losses and decoherence, unavoidable in experimental implementations, destroying completely quantum benefits. This scenario puts the beating of realistic, noisy environments as the main challenge in developing quantum sensing.
Quantum metrology holds the promise of improving the measurement precision beyond the limit of classical approaches. To achieve such enhancement in performance requires the development of quantum estimation theories as well as novel experimental techniques. In this article, we provide a brief review of some recent results in the field of quantum metrology. We emphasize that the unambiguous demonstration of the quantum-enhanced precision needs a careful analysis of the resources involved. In particular, the implementation of quantum metrology in practice requires us to take into account the experimental imperfections included, for example, particle loss and dephasing noise. For a detailed introduction to the experimental demonstrations of quantum metrology, we refer the reader to another article ‘Quantum metrology’ in the same issue.
A fundamental aspect of quantum systems lies in their extreme sensitivity to external perturbations. This characteristic, which generally represents a considerable challenge for physicists seeking to isolate these systems in order to observe their quantum properties, can actually be transformed into an advantage. Indeed, this intrinsic sensitivity makes quantum systems ideal candidates for high-precision metrology. Quantum sensors exploit this susceptibility to measure physical quantities with precision difficult to match with classical approaches.
In the optical sensing context one of the main challenge is to design and implement novel techniques of sensing optimized to work in a lossy scenario, in which effects of environmental disturbances can destroy the benefits deriving from the adoption of quantum resources. Here we describe the experimental implementation of a protocol based on the process of optical parametric amplification to boost interferometry sensitivity in the presence of losses in a minimally invasive scenario. By performing the amplification process on a microscopic probe after the interaction with the sample, we can beat the losses detrimental effect on the phase measurement which affects the single photon state after its interaction with the sample, and thus improve the achievable sensitivity.
It is now well appreciated that quantum physics can be used to build better sensors. Such sensors can be based on unitary systems like various types of interferometers or open systems based on scattering and lossy transmission channels. I would highlight not only the importance of the quantum states used as probes, but also the importance of the quantum-ness of the measurement schemes. I would bring out the especial importance of the squeezed states of matter and light for sensing studies. I would illustrate the results with experiments.
Optical interferometry is a cornerstone technique for precise phase measurements across various fields. In many applications, for example, biological imaging, it often necessitates stringent limits on light intensity to prevent adverse effects on light-sensitive samples, a condition known as dose-limited regimes. Maximizing the precision per dose is therefore crucial. In quantum metrology, quantum correlations enable high precision in phase estimation while adhering to dose constraints. Nevertheless, photon loss, including absorption by a sample, substantially diminishes the benefits of quantum enhancement in interferometry. In this work, we experimentally investigate a dose-efficient approach to quantum phase estimation using sequential strategies in the presence of loss. Performance of sequential strategies with and without control is evaluated through quantum Fisher information (QFI) per dose. Experimental results show that both sequential strategies exceed the classical limit and outperform the parallel strategy using unbalanced N00N states. Notably, the control-enhanced sequential strategy attains superior QFI per dose, approaching the quantum limit. These results highlight the promise of sequential strategy for imaging and sensing in resource-constrained scenarios, marking a significant step toward practical and efficient quantum metrology in lossy environments.
In the quantum sensing context most of the efforts to design novel quantum techniques of sensing have been constrained to idealized, noise-free scenarios, in which effects of environmental disturbances could be neglected. In this work, we propose to exploit optical parametric amplification to boost interferometry sensitivity in the presence of losses in a minimally invasive scenario. By performing the amplification process on the microscopic probe after the interaction with the sample, we can beat the losses' detrimental effect on the phase measurement which affects the single-photon state after its interaction with the sample, and thus improve the achievable sensitivity.