Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE

Quantum optical coherence tomography using three time-energy entangled photons

Dorilian Lopez-Mago, Arturo Burguete Lopez, Eernesto Campos

Published Sep 13, 2016• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Quantum Optical Coherence Tomography can achieve a greater image resolution compared to its classical counterpart, due to the entanglement of the photon pairs. Following the idea that higher the number of entangled photons, higher the resolution, we study the physical underpinnings that appear when using photon triplets. Unlike the usual Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer used for QOCT, a much simpler implementation in the form of a Michelson interferometer is used in this work. We find that axial resolution can be improved by a factor of four. Additionally, we provide the numerical method to reconstruct the image given the triple coincidence rate.

DOI
10.1117/12.2237712

Related papers

Quantum-optical coherence tomography with collinear entangled photons

Dorilian Lopez-Mago, Lukáš Novotný

Quantum-optical coherence tomography (QOCT) combines the principles of classical OCT with the correlation properties of entangled photon pairs [Phys. Rev. A 65, 053817 (2002)]. The standard QOCT configuration is based on the Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer, which uses entangled photons propagating in separate interferometer arms. This noncollinear configuration imposes practical limitations, e.g., misalignment due to drift and low signal-to-noise. Here, we introduce and implement QOCT based on collinear entangled photons. It makes use of a two-photon Michelson interferometer and offers several advantages, such as simplicity, robustness, and adaptability.

Optics Letters•Sep 25, 2012•35 citations

Quantum-Optical Coherence Tomography with Collinear Entangled Photons

Dorilian Lopez-Mago, Lukáš Novotný

We demonstrate the implementation of collinear entangled photons for Quantum-Optical Coherence Tomography using a Michelson interferometer. Compared to the standard configuration, based on the Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer, our method offers robustness and adaptability.

Frontiers in Optics•Jan 1, 2012•0 citations

Quantum Optical Coherence Microscopy for Bioimaging Applications

Pablo Yepiz-Graciano, Zeferino Ibarra-Borja, Roberto Ramírez-Alarcón +4 more

Quantum-optical coherence tomography (QOCT) is an optical sectioning modality based on the quantum interference of entangled photon pairs in the well-known Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer. Despite its promise, the technique is far from being competitive with current classical OCT devices due to the long required acquisition times, derived from the low photon-pair emission rates. In this work, we, on the one hand, demonstrate a quantum optical coherence microscopy technique, based on full-field QOCT, which employs entangled collinear photon pairs in a Linnik interferometer designed to overcome some of the limitations of previous QOCT implementations, and, on the other hand, test it on representative samples, including glass layers with manufactured transverse patterns and metal-coated biological specimens. In our setup, while the idler photon is collected with a multimode fiber, the signal photon is detected by an intensified charge-coupled device camera, leading to full-field transverse reconstruction through a single-axial acquisition sequence. Interestingly, our setup permits concurrent OCT and QOCT trace acquisition, the former with greater counts and the latter with the benefit of quantum-conferred advantages. We hope that our current results will represent a significant step forward towards the actual applicability of QOCT, e.g., in clinical settings.

arXiv:2205.01292•Physical Review Applied•Sep 22, 2022•20 citations

Ultrahigh-Resolution Optical Coherence Tomography Using Quantum Entangled Photon Pairs

Masayuki Okano, Ryo Okamoto, Shigeki Takeuchi

Quantum technologies harness the intrinsic nature of quantum physics to beat limitations of classical methods. Recently, the application of quantum entanglement to metrology has attracted much attention. Quantum optical coherence tomography (QOCT) using two-photon interference between entangled photon pairs can overcome certain problems with classical optical coherence tomography (OCT). As the resolution of OCT becomes higher, degradation of the resolution due to dispersion becomes more critical. Here we show our work on the realization of 0.54 μm resolution two-photon interference, which surpasses the current record resolution 0.75 μm for OCT. In addition, the resolution for QOCT showed almost no change even when a 1-mm-thick water was inserted in the path of the interferometer. The results presented here represent a breakthrough for the realization of ultrahigh-resolution quantum metrology. Our work will open up possibilities for medical and biological applications.

The Review of Laser Engineering•Jan 1, 2016•0 citations

Multi-reflection quantum-optical coherence tomography and experimental mimic with the classical optical field

Qian Li, Yifan Sun, Ling‐Jun Kong +1 more

Quantum optical coherence tomography (QOCT) is the non-classical counterpart of optical coherence tomography (OCT), by which quantum interference of entangled photon pairs is used to show some advantages over classical OCT. Currently, almost all research on the QOCT focuses on the case with two photons and a twofold improvement in axial resolution has been demonstrated. Here, we introduce the multiple reflections strategy into the QOCT scheme, referencing the multi-pass strategy of the sequential scheme in quantum metrology, and provide a theoretical framework for multi-reflection quantum-optical coherence tomography (MQOCT). According to such a scheme, when the incident light interacts with the sample N times, the axial resolution of MQOCT is theoretically enhanced by a factor of N compared to that of QOCT under the same spectral bandwidth while preserving the dispersion cancellation capability of QOCT. Furthermore, we present a classical optical analogy of MQOCT using P -beam correlated multi-mode broadband beams and experimentally validate it. The classical optical analogy of MQOCT theoretically has the same resolution enhancement capability and dispersion cancellation capability as MQOCT while avoiding the fragility issues associated with the quantum light source which is used in MQOCT.

Optics Express•Feb 13, 2025•0 citations

Cross-correlation scheme for quantum optical coherence tomography based on Michelson interferometer

Anna Romanova, Vadim Rodimin, Konstantin Katamadze

Quantum optical coherence tomography (QOCT) offers a simple way to cancel dispersion broadening in a sample while also providing twice the resolution compared to classical OCT. However, to achieve these advantages, a bright and broadband source of entangled photon pairs is required. A simple implementation uses collinear spontaneous parametric down-conversion in a Michelson interferometer (MI), yet this autocorrelation scheme suffers from parasitic terms and sensitivity to phase noise. Here, we introduce a cross-correlation MI-based QOCT that overcomes these drawbacks, significantly advancing QOCT toward practical applications.

arXiv:2505.08095•Physical Review Applied•Nov 24, 2025•1 citation
Quantum Optical Coherence Tomography can achieve a greater image resolution compared to its classical counterpart, due to the entanglement of the photon pairs. Following the idea that higher the number of entangled photons, higher the resolution, we study the physical underpinnings that appear when using photon triplets. Unlike the usual Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer used for QOCT, a much simpler implementation in the form of a Michelson interferometer is used in this work. We find that axial resolution can be improved by a factor of four. Additionally, we provide the numerical method to reconstruct the image given the triple coincidence rate.
Quantum-optical coherence tomography (QOCT) combines the principles of classical OCT with the correlation properties of entangled photon pairs [Phys. Rev. A 65, 053817 (2002)]. The standard QOCT configuration is based on the Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer, which uses entangled photons propagating in separate interferometer arms. This noncollinear configuration imposes practical limitations, e.g., misalignment due to drift and low signal-to-noise. Here, we introduce and implement QOCT based on collinear entangled photons. It makes use of a two-photon Michelson interferometer and offers several advantages, such as simplicity, robustness, and adaptability.
Quantum-optical coherence tomography (QOCT) is an optical sectioning modality based on the quantum interference of entangled photon pairs in the well-known Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer. Despite its promise, the technique is far from being competitive with current classical OCT devices due to the long required acquisition times, derived from the low photon-pair emission rates. In this work, we, on the one hand, demonstrate a quantum optical coherence microscopy technique, based on full-field QOCT, which employs entangled collinear photon pairs in a Linnik interferometer designed to overcome some of the limitations of previous QOCT implementations, and, on the other hand, test it on representative samples, including glass layers with manufactured transverse patterns and metal-coated biological specimens. In our setup, while the idler photon is collected with a multimode fiber, the signal photon is detected by an intensified charge-coupled device camera, leading to full-field transverse reconstruction through a single-axial acquisition sequence. Interestingly, our setup permits concurrent OCT and QOCT trace acquisition, the former with greater counts and the latter with the benefit of quantum-conferred advantages. We hope that our current results will represent a significant step forward towards the actual applicability of QOCT, e.g., in clinical settings.
Quantum technologies harness the intrinsic nature of quantum physics to beat limitations of classical methods. Recently, the application of quantum entanglement to metrology has attracted much attention. Quantum optical coherence tomography (QOCT) using two-photon interference between entangled photon pairs can overcome certain problems with classical optical coherence tomography (OCT). As the resolution of OCT becomes higher, degradation of the resolution due to dispersion becomes more critical. Here we show our work on the realization of 0.54 μm resolution two-photon interference, which surpasses the current record resolution 0.75 μm for OCT. In addition, the resolution for QOCT showed almost no change even when a 1-mm-thick water was inserted in the path of the interferometer. The results presented here represent a breakthrough for the realization of ultrahigh-resolution quantum metrology. Our work will open up possibilities for medical and biological applications.
Quantum optical coherence tomography (QOCT) is the non-classical counterpart of optical coherence tomography (OCT), by which quantum interference of entangled photon pairs is used to show some advantages over classical OCT. Currently, almost all research on the QOCT focuses on the case with two photons and a twofold improvement in axial resolution has been demonstrated. Here, we introduce the multiple reflections strategy into the QOCT scheme, referencing the multi-pass strategy of the sequential scheme in quantum metrology, and provide a theoretical framework for multi-reflection quantum-optical coherence tomography (MQOCT). According to such a scheme, when the incident light interacts with the sample N times, the axial resolution of MQOCT is theoretically enhanced by a factor of N compared to that of QOCT under the same spectral bandwidth while preserving the dispersion cancellation capability of QOCT. Furthermore, we present a classical optical analogy of MQOCT using P -beam correlated multi-mode broadband beams and experimentally validate it. The classical optical analogy of MQOCT theoretically has the same resolution enhancement capability and dispersion cancellation capability as MQOCT while avoiding the fragility issues associated with the quantum light source which is used in MQOCT.
Quantum optical coherence tomography (QOCT) offers a simple way to cancel dispersion broadening in a sample while also providing twice the resolution compared to classical OCT. However, to achieve these advantages, a bright and broadband source of entangled photon pairs is required. A simple implementation uses collinear spontaneous parametric down-conversion in a Michelson interferometer (MI), yet this autocorrelation scheme suffers from parasitic terms and sensitivity to phase noise. Here, we introduce a cross-correlation MI-based QOCT that overcomes these drawbacks, significantly advancing QOCT toward practical applications.