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Optics Letters

Birefringence and scattering characterization using polarization sensitive quantum optical coherence tomography

Vitaly Sukharenko, Siméon Bikorimana, R. Dorsinville

Published May 18, 2021• 8 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Polarization sensitive quantum optical coherence tomography (PS-QOCT) is used to characterize birefringence, scattering/absorption and path length differences in a flat transparent plastic sample. In this Letter, we present the first, to the best of our knowledge, experimental technique of PS-QOCT imaging and characterization of a birefringent material. Polarization sensitive coincidence rate of the entangled photons measured for each pixel and the 2D cross-sectional images are reconstructed. The technique described in this work has many potential applications in the characterization of micro and nano structures, including biological samples.

DOI
10.1364/ol.426230

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Polarization sensitive quantum optical coherence tomography (PS-QOCT) is used to characterize birefringence, scattering/absorption and path length differences in a flat transparent plastic sample. In this Letter, we present the first, to the best of our knowledge, experimental technique of PS-QOCT imaging and characterization of a birefringent material. Polarization sensitive coincidence rate of the entangled photons measured for each pixel and the 2D cross-sectional images are reconstructed. The technique described in this work has many potential applications in the characterization of micro and nano structures, including biological samples.
Polarization-sensitive quantum optical coherence tomography (PS-QOCT) is used to image and characterize birefringence effects in biological samples. Entangled photons are generated via spontaneous parametric down-conversion and split into a reference arm and a sample arm of a Mach Zehnder interferometer. Interferometric patterns between two entangled photons reveal information about tissue birefringence. Biological tissue samples are imaged and characterized, and their quantum interference patterns and birefringence profiles are presented.
We set forth a polarization-sensitive quantum-optical coherence tomography (PS-QOCT) technique that provides axial optical sectioning with polarization-sensitive capabilities. The technique provides a means for determining information about the optical path length between isotropic reflecting surfaces, the relative magnitude of the reflectance from each interface, the birefringence of the interstitial material, and the orientation of the optical axis of the sample. PS-QOCT is immune to sample dispersion and therefore permits measurements to be made at depths greater than those accessible via ordinary optical coherence tomography. We also provide a general Jones matrix theory for analyzing PS-QOCT systems and outline an experimental procedure for carrying out such measurements.
We compare reconstructed quantum state images of a birefringent sample using direct quantum state tomography and inverse numerical optimization technique. Qubits are used to characterize birefringence in a flat transparent plastic sample by means of polarization sensitive measurement using density matrices of two-level quantum entangled photons. Pairs of entangled photons are generated in a type-II nonlinear crystal. About half of the generated photons interact with a birefringent sample, and coincidence counts are recorded. Coincidence rates of entangled photons are measured for a set of sixteen polarization states. Tomographic and inverse numerical techniques are used to reconstruct the density matrix, the degree of entanglement, and concurrence for each pixel of the investigated sample. An inverse numerical optimization technique is used to obtain a density matrix from measured coincidence counts with the maximum probability. Presented results highlight the experimental noise reduction, greater density matrix estimation, and overall image enhancement. The outcome of the entanglement distillation through projective measurements is a superposition of Bell states with different amplitudes. These changes are used to characterize the birefringence of a 3M tape. Well-defined concurrence and entanglement images of the birefringence are presented. Our results show that inverse numerical techniques improve overall image quality and detail resolution. The technique described in this work has many potential applications.
Two-photon interference in a Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interferometer can be used as a quantum sensing mechanism due to the sensitivity of the interference dip to perturbations of the photon indistinguishability. In particular, recent works have generalized this concept to microscopy setups, but the sensitivity to optical path differences constrains its application to samples with thickness variation typically below a few micrometers if tracking changes in the coincidences at a fixed delay. Extending the concept to polarization microscopy and circumventing this limitation, this manuscript explores the use of a narrowband photon pair source with coherence length >1 mm to broaden the HOM dip. Thus, realistic sample-thickness variations introduce negligible temporal distinguishability, and changes in coincidence rate at the dip centre are then dominated by sample-induced polarization effects. To compute the polarization rotation, we develop a statistical model for the interferometer, derive the Fisher information, and establish a maximum-likelihood estimator for the local fast-axis angle. Recording dip and baseline frames at each sample position via raster scanning, the experimental results validate the framework, agreeing with classical polarized-intensity images while demonstrating operation at a maximum-precision regime and insensitiveness to layer thickness. Overall, the approach enclosed provides a quantum-based quantitative imaging of birefringent structures, which can motivate further advantageous applications, including enhanced signal-to-noise ratio and lower damage imaging of photosensitive samples.