Optics Continuum

Single-pixel imaging with heralded single photons

Steven Johnson, Alex R. McMillan, Cyril Torre, Stefan Frick, John Rarity, Miles J. Padgett

Published Mar 22, 2022• 16 citations

Abstract

Traditional remote sensing applications are often based on pulsed laser illumination with a narrow linewidth and characteristic repetition rate, which are not conducive to covert operation. Whatever methods are employed for covert sensing, a key requirement is for the probe light to be indistinguishable from background illumination. We present a method to perform single-pixel imaging that suppresses the effect of background light and hence improves the signal-to-noise ratio by using correlated photon-pairs produced via spontaneous parametric down conversion. One of the photons in the pair is used to illuminate the object whilst the other acts as a temporal reference, allowing the signal photons to be distinguished from background noise. Understanding the noise regime is key to producing higher contrast images using this heralding method.

DOI: 10.1364/optcon.458248

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