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Optics Letters

High-depth-resolution imaging of dispersive samples using quantum optical coherence tomography

Kyohei Hayama, Bo Cao, Ryo Okamoto, Shun Suezawa, Masayuki Okano, Shigeki Takeuchi

Published Aug 29, 2022• 24 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Quantum optical coherence tomography (QOCT) is a promising approach to overcome the degradation of the resolution in optical coherence tomography (OCT) due to dispersion. Here, we report on an experimental demonstration of QOCT imaging in the high-resolution regime. We achieved a depth resolution of 2.5 μ m, which is the highest value for QOCT imaging, to the best of our knowledge. We show that the QOCT image of a dispersive material remains clear whereas the OCT image is drastically degraded.

DOI
10.1364/ol.469874

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Quantum optical coherence tomography (QOCT) is a promising approach to overcome the degradation of the resolution in optical coherence tomography (OCT) due to dispersion. Here, we report on an experimental demonstration of QOCT imaging in the high-resolution regime. We achieved a depth resolution of 2.5 μ m, which is the highest value for QOCT imaging, to the best of our knowledge. We show that the QOCT image of a dispersive material remains clear whereas the OCT image is drastically degraded.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been widely used in many applications owing to its non-invasive nature. However, its axial resolution can be degraded due to dispersion in samples and optical systems. Quantum optical coherence tomography (QOCT) can overcome this problem and has thus attracted attention. However, QOCT exhibits two challenges: insufficient volume resolution and artifacts in images. Here, we realize high-volume-resolution QOCT imaging with efficient artifact removal. We evaluate our QOCT system to have an axial resolution of 1.5 μm and a lateral resolution of 1.6 μm, giving a volume resolution of 4.0 μm 3 (4.0 fL). We show that high-volume-resolution QOCT imaging is achievable even under group velocity dispersion. We also show that artifacts appearing inherently in the QOCT images can be removed by fast post-processing using the maximum clique search in graph theory. We believe that this study paves the way for QOCT imaging of three-dimensional fine structures.
We propose a technique, called quantum-optical coherence tomography (QOCT), for carrying out tomographic measurements with dispersion-cancelled resolution. The technique can also be used to extract the frequency-dependent refractive index of the medium. QOCT makes use of a two-photon interferometer in which a swept delay permits a coincidence interferogram to be traced. The technique bears a resemblance to classical optical coherence tomography (OCT). However, it makes use of a nonclassical entangled twin-photon light source that permits measurements to be made at depths greater than those accessible via OCT, which suffers from the deleterious effects of sample dispersion. Aside from the dispersion cancellation, QOCT offers higher sensitivity than OCT as well as an enhancement of resolution by a factor of two for the same source bandwidth. QOCT and OCT are compared using an idealized sample.
A number of nonclassical (quantum) sources of light have come to the fore in recent years [1], but few practical applications have emerged. One such application is quantum optical coherence tomography (QOCT) [2, 3], a fourth-order interferometric optical-sectioning scheme that makes use of frequency-entangled photon pairs generated via spontaneous optical parametric down-conversion (SPDC). A particular merit of QOCT is that it is inherently immune to group-velocity dispersion (GVD) by virtue of the frequency entanglement of the photon pairs [4]-[6]. Conventional optical coherence tomography (OCT) [7], in contrast, is a second-order interferometric scheme that provides high-resolution axial sectioning by employing ultra-broadband light. Unfortunately, however, this leads to GVD, which degrades resolution. Here we present the first experimental QOCT images of a biological sample: an onion-skin tissue coated with gold nanoparticles. Three-dimensional images are displayed in the form of transverse sections at different depths. The results reveal that QOCT is a viable biological imaging technique.
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 information technologies harness the intrinsic nature of quantum theory to beat the limitations of the classical methods for information processing and communication. Recently, the application of quantum features to metrology has attracted much attention. Quantum optical coherence tomography (QOCT), which utilizes two-photon interference between entangled photon pairs, is a promising approach to overcome the problem with optical coherence tomography (OCT): As the resolution of OCT becomes higher, degradation of the resolution due to dispersion within the medium becomes more critical. Here we report on the realization of 0.54 μm resolution two-photon interference, which surpasses the current record resolution 0.75 μm of low-coherence interference for OCT. In addition, the resolution for QOCT showed almost no change against the dispersion of a 1 mm thickness of water inserted in the optical path, whereas the resolution for OCT dramatically degrades. For this experiment, a highly-efficient chirped quasi-phase-matched lithium tantalate device was developed using a novel 'nano-electrode-poling' technique. The results presented here represent a breakthrough for the realization of quantum protocols, including QOCT, quantum clock synchronization, and more. Our work will open up possibilities for medical and biological applications.