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ACS Photonics

Quantum Super-resolution Imaging with Multicenter Integration

Zhe He, Hui Zhen Wu, Guangyu Li, Cheng Shao, Weidong Zheng, Qun Cao, Zheng Cui

Published Nov 10, 2025• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Quantum imaging based on the entanglement from spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) can surpass the classical resolution limit. However, the application is often restricted by slow data acquisition, which requires a large number of frames. Here, we introduce a rapid quantum super-resolution method that integrates biphotons centered symmetrically about multiple spatially shifted positions. While traditional methods relying on biphotons symmetrically distributed around a single center require approximately 200,000 frames to achieve super-resolution imaging with a comparable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), our approach accomplishes the same with only 10,000 frames. This method enhances the SNR and reduces the data acquisition time by a factor of 20, significantly improving the practicality and efficiency of quantum super-resolution imaging.

DOI
10.1021/acsphotonics.5c02335

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Quantum imaging based on the entanglement from spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) can surpass the classical resolution limit. However, the application is often restricted by slow data acquisition, which requires a large number of frames. Here, we introduce a rapid quantum super-resolution method that integrates biphotons centered symmetrically about multiple spatially shifted positions. While traditional methods relying on biphotons symmetrically distributed around a single center require approximately 200,000 frames to achieve super-resolution imaging with a comparable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), our approach accomplishes the same with only 10,000 frames. This method enhances the SNR and reduces the data acquisition time by a factor of 20, significantly improving the practicality and efficiency of quantum super-resolution imaging.
Quantum super-resolution imaging provides a nonlabeling method to surpass the diffraction limit of imaging systems. This technique relies on measurement of the second-order correlation function and usually employs spatially entangled photon sources. We introduce recent methods that achieve spatial resolution enhancement through quantum approaches, particularly the imaging techniques utilizing biphoton states. The fundamental mechanisms are discussed in detail to explain why biphoton states enable super-resolution. Additionally, we introduce multiple algorithms that extract the correlation function from the readings of two-dimensional detectors. Several cases are reviewed to evaluate the advantages and prospects of quantum imaging, along with a discussion of practical developments and potential applications.
Spatial resolution defines the fundamental limit of how precisely optical imaging systems can distinguish details within an object. Recent advances in quantum imaging have surpassed classical resolution limits by exploiting entanglement. However, experimental demonstrations of quantum enhancement above two times using entangled biphotons have thus far been limited to nonimaging experiments that use replication of the object or nonlinearity-both are impractical and inefficient. Here, without resorting to either, we enhance the classical resolution using entangled photon pairs by either two- or fourfold in two system configurations. While the signal photons traverse the object-containing arm only once, the idler photons traverse the symmetric object-free arm either once or thrice. These experiments demonstrate a scalable route toward quantum-correlated super-resolution imaging, motivate theoretical exploration of the underlying mechanisms, and open opportunities for high-precision, low-illumination microscopy.
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Quantum imaging exploits the spatial correlations between photons to image object features with a higher resolution than a corresponding classical light source could achieve. Using a quantum correlated N-photon state, the method of optical centroid measurement (OCM) was shown to exhibit a resolution enhancement by improving the classical Rayleigh limit by a factor of 1/N. In this work, the theory of OCM is formulated within the framework of an imaging formalism and is implemented in an exemplary experiment by means of a conventional entangled photon pair source. The expected resolution enhancement of a factor of two is demonstrated. The here presented experiment allows for single-shot operation without scanning or iteration to reproduce the object in the image plane. Thereby, photon detection is performed with a newly developed integrated time-resolving detector array. Multi-photon interference effects responsible for the observed resolution enhancement are discussed and possible alternative implementation possibilities for higher photon number are proposed.