We present a compact, efficient rotation sensor using structured light and bright N00N states. It employs opposite spiral phase plates to convert mechanical rotation into wavefront phase shifts, stabilized by quantum PID control.
Quantum metrology leverages quantum correlations for enhanced parameter estimation. Recently, structured light enabled increased resolution and sensitivity in quantum metrology systems. However, lossy and complex setups impacting photon flux, hinder true quantum advantage while using high dimensional structured light. We introduce a straightforward mechanical rotation quantum sensing mechanism, employing high-dimensional structured light and a compact high-flux (45,000 coincidence counts per second) N00N state source with N=2. The system utilizes two opposite spiral phase plates with topological charge of up to l=16 that convert mechanical rotation into wavefront phase shifts, and exhibit a 16-fold enhanced super-resolution and 25-fold enhanced sensitivity between different topological charges, while retaining the acquisition times and with negligible change in coincidence count. Furthermore, the high photon flux enables to detect mechanical angular acceleration in real-time. Our approach paves the way for highly sensitive quantum measurements, applicable to various interferometric schemes.
Quantum metrology leverages quantum correlations for enhanced parameter estimation. Recently, structured light enabled increased resolution and sensitivity in quantum metrology systems. However, lossy and complex setups impacting photon flux hinder true quantum advantage while using high dimensional structured light. We introduce a straightforward mechanical rotation quantum sensing mechanism, employing high-dimensional structured light and use it with a high-flux (45 000 coincidence counts per second) N00N state source with N = 2. The system utilizes two opposite spiral phase plates with topological charge of up to ℓ = 16 that converts mechanical rotation into wavefront phase shifts and exhibit a 16-fold enhanced super-resolution and 25-fold enhanced sensitivity between different topological charges, while retaining the acquisition times, and with negligible change in coincidence count. Furthermore, the high efficiency together with the high photon flux enables detection of mechanical angular acceleration in real-time. Our approach paves the way for highly sensitive quantum measurements, applicable to various interferometric schemes.
Vectorial modes of light, a type of structured light where the polarization varies across the beam profile, are a useful tool both in classical and quantum applications. In quantum communication, for instance, these modes enable rotational invariant protocols, therefore overcoming the requirement of a shared reference frame between users. Moreover, structured light can be a resource for enhanced sensing purposes as for instance in the “photonic gears” technique. This quantum inspired scheme enables a boost of sensitivity in mechanical displacements measurement thanks to a bidirectional mapping between the polarization state and a properly tailored vectorial mode of a paraxial light beam. Finally, we will discuss how quantum interference can be controlled and tailored for structured light modes, therefore providing a key ingredient for exploiting the full potential of complex light in the quantum domain.
Quantum-enhanced sensors that exploit N -photon entanglement surpass the shot-noise limit by N and achieve N -fold resolution gains [1, 2]. Structured light can further boost sensitivity [3]. However, shaping entanglement beyond two photons remains difficult because of inefficient optical setups and the low generation probability of multi-photon states. Consequently, demonstrations with high-order structured light have so far been restricted to N ≤ 2 [1], and larger- N interferometers lacked large spatial structure, limiting improvement to N -fold resolution. Our work unifies these capabilities.