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Journal of Modern Optics

Decoherence of nonclassical states of light can be very efficiently used in optical sensor technology

Stefan Scheel

Published Jan 1, 2003• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In this article we demonstrate that decoherence of nonclassical states of light can be very efficiently used in optical sensor technology. As an example, we consider squeezing degradation of monomode or bipartite quantum states that are in contact with an environment serving as the measurand. The sensitivity of the measuring device will be greatly enhanced when using strongly squeezed states. Moreover, we show that sensitivity-used squeezing measurement is always larger than for absorption measurements. We present an idea for the important application of the measurement of concentration changes in gaseous flows.

DOI
10.1080/0950034021000020770

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In this article we demonstrate that decoherence of nonclassical states of light can be very efficiently used in optical sensor technology. As an example, we consider squeezing degradation of monomode or bipartite quantum states that are in contact with an environment serving as the measurand. The sensitivity of the measuring device will be greatly enhanced when using strongly squeezed states. Moreover, we show that sensitivity-used squeezing measurement is always larger than for absorption measurements. We present an idea for the important application of the measurement of concentration changes in gaseous flows.
The most efficient approach to laser interferometric force sensing to date uses monochromatic carrier light with its signal sideband spectrum in a squeezed vacuum state. Quantum decoherence, i.e., mixing with an ordinary vacuum state due to optical losses, is the main sensitivity limit. In this Letter, we present both theoretical and experimental evidence that quantum decoherence in high-precision laser interferometric force sensors enhanced with optical cavities and squeezed light injection can be mitigated by a quantum squeeze operation inside the sensor's cavity. Our experiment shows an enhanced measurement sensitivity that is independent of the optical readout loss in a wide range. Our results pave the way for quantum improvements in scenarios where high decoherence previously precluded the use of squeezed light. Our results hold significant potential for advancing the field of quantum sensors and enabling new experimental approaches in high-precision measurement technology.
High-Q optical microresonators combine low losses and high optical energy concentration in a small effective mode volume, making them an attractive platform for optical sensors. While light is confined in the microresonator by total internal reflection, a portion of the optical field, known as the evanescent field, extends outside. This makes the mode's resonant frequency sensitive to changes in the surrounding environment. In this work, we explore the quantum sensitivity limits of this type of sensors. We show that using the intracavity squeezing of the light in the microresonator, it is possible to suppress the influence of the optical losses and cancel the undesirable self phase modulation effect, originating from the cubic non-linearity of the microresonators media. As a result, the sensitivity surpassing the shot noise limit can be achieved. An additional sensitivity gain can be obtained by preparing the input light in a squeezed quantum state.
Nonclassical states are essential for optics-based quantum information processing, but their fragility limits their utility for practical scenarios in which loss and noise inevitably degrade, if not destroy, nonclassicality. Exploiting nonclassical states in quantum metrology yields sensitivity advantages over all classical schemes delivering the same energy per measurement interval to the sample being probed. These enhancements, almost without exception, are severely diminished by quantum decoherence. Here, we experimentally demonstrate an entanglement-enhanced sensing system that is resilient to quantum decoherence. We employ entanglement to realize a 20% signal-to-noise ratio improvement over the optimum classical scheme in an entanglement-breaking environment plagued by 14 dB of loss and a noise background 75 dB stronger than the returned probe light. Our result suggests that advantageous quantum-sensing technology could be developed for practical situations.
Squeezed states of the electromagnetic field are characterized by a reduction of fluctuations for one of two quadrature phase amplitudes below the level of fluctuations for the vacuum state. This reduction is a manifestly quantum or nonclassical feature which is of great interest in its own right but also potentially important for precision measurement with sensitivity beyond the shot-noise or vacuum-state limit. We describe three different experiments in which squeezed light has been generated in our laboratory involving parametric downconversion, intracavity frequency doubling, and optical bistability with two-state atoms. By employing the squeezed light produced by a subthreshold optical parametric oscillator, we have achieved improvements in sensitivity beyond the vacuum-state limit for the detection of both phase and amplitude changes of the electromagnetic field. An alternate route to sensitivity beyond the vacuum-state limit is through quantum nondemolition measurement, where we have suggested and are implementing a scheme involving parametric conversion and polarization mixing.
Squeezed state light is a nonclassical optical field which has extensive potential applications in optical measurement with high sensitivity exceeding the standard quantum limit as well as in optical communications and quantum information with extremely low noise. This has given birth to cross-disciplines of physics and information science. An overview is presented of the generation of squeezed state light fields and their important applications in sub-shot-noise-limit optical measurement and quantum information research.