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AIP Advances

Enhancing quantum imaging efficiency by BiBO crystal-based entangled light source

Kanako Yoshimura, Naru Yoneda, Osamu Matoba

Published Jun 1, 2026• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Quantum imaging utilizing entangled photon pairs takes advantage of their strong quantum correlations to surpass the limitations of classical imaging techniques in terms of spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. However, due to the low brightness of entangled photon sources, an enormous number of intensity images (∼107) is required for imaging in previous studies in order to acquire images with a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio, posing a challenge for practical implementation. A BiBO crystal, known for its large nonlinear optical coefficient, is considered a promising high-brightness entangled photon source. However, its performance has not been quantitatively evaluated in the context of quantum imaging systems, particularly regarding its impact on imaging performance. Here, we investigate the potential of a BiBO crystal as a light source for high-efficiency quantum imaging by performing parallel intensity correlation measurements and implementing quantum image distillation as an example in comparison with a commonly used BBO crystal. The results demonstrate that the use of the BiBO crystal enables more efficient quantum imaging compared to the conventional BBO crystal.

DOI
10.1063/5.0314450

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Quantum imaging utilizing entangled photon pairs takes advantage of their strong quantum correlations to surpass the limitations of classical imaging techniques in terms of spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. However, due to the low brightness of entangled photon sources, an enormous number of intensity images (∼107) is required for imaging in previous studies in order to acquire images with a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio, posing a challenge for practical implementation. A BiBO crystal, known for its large nonlinear optical coefficient, is considered a promising high-brightness entangled photon source. However, its performance has not been quantitatively evaluated in the context of quantum imaging systems, particularly regarding its impact on imaging performance. Here, we investigate the potential of a BiBO crystal as a light source for high-efficiency quantum imaging by performing parallel intensity correlation measurements and implementing quantum image distillation as an example in comparison with a commonly used BBO crystal. The results demonstrate that the use of the BiBO crystal enables more efficient quantum imaging compared to the conventional BBO crystal.
Quantum imaging utilizing entangled photon pairs takes advantage of their strong quantum correlations to surpass the limitations of classical imaging techniques in terms of spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. However, due to the low brightness of entangled photon sources, an enormous amount number of intensity images (∼107\sim 10^7∼107) is required for imaging, posing a challenge for practical implementation. In this study, we propose the use of a BiBO crystal for generating entangled photons to enhance the efficiency of quantum imaging. A BiBO crystal has large nonlinear optical coefficient, so it has been expected to serve as a high-brightness entangled photon source. However, a BiBO crystal has never been applied to quantum imaging because it's relatively recently discovered. Here, we investigate the potential of a BiBO crystal as a light source for high-efficiency quantum imaging by performing parallel intensity correlation measurements and implementing quantum image distillation as an example in comparison with the commonly used a BBO crystal. As a result, we achieved a tenfold reduction in measurement time of the conventional method and a significant improvement in imaging efficiency.
Correlation imaging based on entangled light sources offers potential benefits over classical single-photon imaging (SPI) in noisy environments, but also faces challenges such as low brightness, long integration times, and difficulty imaging biological organisms. Here, we propose noise-resistant biologically correlated biphoton imaging (CPI) based on a super-bunching light source, addressing the challenge of severe signal-to-noise ratio degradation in conventional SPI schemes. Our CPI, based on a super-bunching light source with high brightness, broadband spectrum (400–1100 nm), and strong quantum correlation (g 2 (0) ∼ 250), delivers high-performance, noise-resistant operation by extracting correlated photon pairs between the reference and signal paths. Experimental results show that under extreme noise conditions (noise-to-signal ratio up to 600), the structural profile in conventional SPI is entirely obscured by noise. In contrast, CPI still clearly resolves the target structure. Quantitative analysis further reveals that, as noise intensity increases, the imaging visibility of CPI can be enhanced by more than two orders of magnitude compared to SPI schemes. This study confirms the exceptional robustness and practical utility of super-bunching light-based correlated imaging in high-noise environments, offering an effective technical approach for high-quality biological observation in complex optical conditions.
We describe the full characterization of the biaxial nonlinear crystal BiB₃O₆ (BiBO) as a polarization entangled photon source using non-collinear type-II parametric down-conversion. We consider the relevant parameters for crystal design, such as cutting angles, polarization of the photons, effective nonlinearity, spatial and temporal walk-offs, crystal thickness and the effect of the pump laser bandwidth. Experimental results showing entanglement generation with high rates and a comparison to the well investigated β-BaB₂O₄ (BBO) crystal are presented as well. Changing the down-conversion crystal of a polarization entangled photon source from BBO to BiBO enhances the generation rate as if the pump power was increased by 2.5 times. Such an improvement is currently required for the generation of multiphoton entangled states.
Quantum imaging utilizes the correlation of photons to enhance the security, covertness, and noise resilience of optical imaging. Despite recent advances, developing a quantum imaging system with long-distance and strong noise resilience remains challenging. Here, we present an experimental demonstration of high-performance quantum imaging at telecom band with enhanced noise resilience. We use a fiber-integrated quantum light source via cascaded second-order nonlinear processes to generate high-quality correlated/entangled photon pairs at telecom band and a fiber-coupled confocal optical system to effectively suppress the background noise and improve the collection efficiency of echo signal photons by optimizing its bandwidth and aperture. In our demonstration, the quantum imaging with correlated/entangled photon pairs or heralded single photons is achieved at a distance of 11 m under indoor illumination. When the detected environment noise is 33 dB stronger than the signal photons, corresponding to a coincidence-to-accidental coincidence ratio of 1.7 ± 0.1, an imaging contrast of 0.23 ± 0.09 is achieved, which is 46 times higher than single-photon imaging without correlation. The results will open venues for the development of practical quantum imaging techniques.
The quantum entangled photon-pair source, as an essential component of optical quantum systems, holds great potential for applications such as quantum teleportation, quantum computing, and quantum imaging. The current workhorse technique for preparing photon pairs involves performing spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) in bulk nonlinear crystals. However, the current power consumption and cost of preparing entangled photon-pair sources are relatively high, posing challenges to their integration and scalability. In this paper, we propose a low-power system model for the quantum entangled photon-pair source based on SPDC theory and phase matching technology. This model allows us to analyze the performance of each module and the influence of component characteristics on the overall system. In our experimental setup, we utilize a 5 mW laser diode and a typical type-II barium metaborate (BBO) crystal to prepare an entangled photon-pair source. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with the model, indicating a significant step towards achieving the goal of low-power and low-cost entangled photon-pair sources. This achievement not only contributes to the practical application of quantum entanglement lighting, but also paves the way for the widespread adoption of optical quantum systems in the future.
Entangled photon quantum imaging technology has become very promising for marine imaging due to its high resolution, anti-turbulence, and anti-interference properties. The turbulence and optical attenuation caused by oceanic water would impose severe limitations on conventional imaging equipment. Quantum imaging based on entangled light sources could make it possible to overcome the constraints of low imaging resolution, large maritime environmental impact and low confidentiality in traditional underwater target imaging. Hence, the recent technological developments in terms of quantum imaging in free space motivate our investigation into high-resolution quantum imaging based on spatially correlated properties of entangled photon pairs in a marine environment. Moreover we propose and design an innovative underwater quantum imaging optical path for experimental verification. We conduct extensive experiments to assess the effectiveness of our proposed quantum imaging approach in marine environments. In order to solve the problem of the slow quantum imaging process, we propose an innovative compressive sensing reconstruction algorithm. Experiments show that the compressive sensing method could be utilized to reduce the imaging time. Finally, we propose an underwater quantum target identification method based on deep learning, further providing the possibility for underwater quantum target identification of entangled light sources.