Quantum-Enhanced Nonlinear Spectroscopy

Zi S. D. Toa, Maria V. Chekhova, Leonid A. Krivitsky +1 more

Nonlinear interferometers with quantum correlated photons have been demonstrated to improve optical characterization and metrology. These interferometers can be used in gas spectroscopy, which is of particular interest for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions, breath analysis and industrial applications. Here, we show that gas spectroscopy can be further enhanced via the deployment of crystal superlattices. This is a cascaded arrangement of nonlinear crystals forming interferometers, allowing the sensitivity to scale with the number of nonlinear elements. In particular, the enhanced sensitivity is observed via the maximum intensity of interference fringes that scales with low concentration of infrared absorbers, while for high concentration the sensitivity is better in interferometric visibility measurements. Thus, a superlattice acts as a versatile gas sensor since it can operate by measuring different observables, which are relevant to practical applications. We believe that our approach offers a compelling path towards further enhancements for quantum metrology and imaging using nonlinear interferometers with correlated photons.

Wolfgang Demtröder

Evan J. Kumar, Lorenzo Uboldi, Ravyn Malatesta +6 more

Quantum entangled photons are suggested as an optical probe to isolate specific many-body interactions in molecular materials and improve upon measurement sensitivity in conventional nonlinear spectroscopy experiments.

Wolfgang Demtröder

Wolfgang Demtröder

Pawan Kumar, Sina Saravi, Thomas Pertsch +2 more

Quantum spectroscopy based on nonlinear interferometers attracts increasing attention due to its unique practical advantages [1]. By tailoring spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) for generation of frequency-correlated photons and their nonlocal quantum interference, it becomes possible to perform sensing and imaging across broad spectral ranges through simple detection of paired photons in the visible [2,3]. It was recently demonstrated that nonlinear integrated waveguides can improve the performance of quantum spectroscopy [4]. However, while fabrication of integrated circuits with multiple waveguides is well established, their applications for quantum spectroscopy remain largely undeveloped.