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IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement

An Ultrawideband Cross-Correlation Radiometer for Mesoscopic Experiments

Ryan Christopher Toonen, Cyrus Haselby, Robert H. Blick

Published Aug 4, 2008• 7 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have designed, built, and tested a cross-correlation radiometer for detecting quantum statistical fluctuations in mesoscopic experiments. We present the details of our design and the results of our characterization. Our instrument operates over the X- and Ku-bands (8-18 GHz). Digital signal processing techniques are used to provide robustness against instrumentation drifts and offsets. The economized version of our instrument can detect, with sufficient correlation efficiency, noise signals having power levels as low as 10 fW. The modularity of our design allows one to easily alter the specifications (such as the bandwidth and the sensitivity) by simply replacing individual components.

DOI
10.1109/tim.2008.925011

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Abstract Quantum metrology deals with improving the resolution of instruments that are otherwise limited by shot noise and it is therefore a promising avenue for enabling scientific breakthroughs. The advantage can be even more striking when quantum enhancement is combined with correlation techniques among several devices. Here, we present and realize a correlation interferometry scheme exploiting bipartite quantum correlated states injected in two independent interferometers. The scheme outperforms classical analogues in detecting a faint signal that may be correlated/uncorrelated between the two devices. We also compare its sensitivity with that obtained for a pair of two independent squeezed modes, each addressed to one interferometer, for detecting a correlated stochastic signal in the MHz frequency band. Being the simpler solution, it may eventually find application to fundamental physics tests, e.g., searching for the effects predicted by some Planck scale theories.
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