Optical frequency combs combine ultrashort pulse duration and phase stability, making them powerful resources for high-precision ranging even when affected by atmospheric dispersion. It has been established that by classical modal engineering and mode-sensitive detection, sensitivity to distance at the standard limit can be achieved; however, attaining improved uncertainties by the use of squeezing has not been explored. Here, we apply an effective Hamiltonian framework to the problem of ranging with quantum frequency combs in order to derive the associated precision bounds for distance estimation. The problem needs addressing of the pulse shape and its quantum properties at once. The analysis reveals that quantum solutions may be appealing mostly for short-distance applications.
Optical frequency combs combine ultrashort pulse duration and phase stability, making them powerful resources for high-precision ranging even when affected by atmospheric dispersion. It has been established that by classical modal engineering and mode-sensitive detection, sensitivity to distance at the standard limit can be achieved; however, attaining improved uncertainties by the use of squeezing has not been explored. Here, we apply an effective Hamiltonian framework to the problem of ranging with quantum frequency combs in order to derive the associated precision bounds for distance estimation. The problem needs addressing of the pulse shape and its quantum properties at once. The analysis reveals that quantum solutions may be appealing mostly for short-distance applications.
Optical frequency combs combine ultrashort pulse duration and phase stability, making them powerful resources for high-precision ranging even when affected by atmospheric dispersion. It has been established that by classical modal engineering and mdoe-sensitive detection sensitivity to distance at the standard limit can be achieved, however attaining improved uncertainties by the use of squeezing has not been explored. Here, we apply an effective Hamiltonian framework to the problem of ranging with quantum frequency combs in order to derive the associated precision bounds for distance estimation. We analyse the role of intensity anti-squeezing and temporal beam shaping, and find that quantum solutions may be appealing mostly for short-distance applications.
Summary form only given. Optical techniques are widely used in many areas of science and technology to make accurate measurements. The precision of these measurements suffers from limits due to the unavoidable quantum fluctuations of light. When the light is in the quasi-classical coherent state, this limit is called ”standard quantum limit” and scales as 1/√N with N the number of photons. While better scaling can be achieved with exotic quantum states, coherent light is experimentally interesting as we are able to produce it with large N. We consider light as a probe for the measurement of a parameter p that affects the medium or the length through which the light propagates. We derived the ultimate limit of sensitivity, the so-called quantum Cramér-Rao bound, for the measurement of p [1]: for u(ω, p) the normalized mean field mode of the light, the minimal fluctuation of p that can be measured is given in Fig. 1. We also showed that this ultimate limit of sensitivity can be reached experimentally in a homodyne detection scheme, where the intense local oscillator is taken in the mode wp o ∂u ∂p, called detection mode associated with p. This measurement scheme can be applied to space-time positioning experiments such as ranging or clock synchronization [2]. The basic method for space-time positioning relies on the exchange of regular light pulses between two emitters. For coherent broadband light pulses, such as the ones delivered by a mode-locked femtosecond laser, of central frequency ω0 and of spectral width Δω, the quantum limits of the measurements of the delay t are given by δtphase = 2√Nω0 1 for interferometric measurements and δttof = 2√NΔω 1 for time-of-flight measurements. However, these two methods do not reach the quantum Cramer-Rao bound; this ultimate limit is achieved by a homodyne detection with local oscillator w(ω) o iωu(ω), and is given by 1 δtmin = (1) 2√N . Δω2 + ω2 0 For usual characteristics of a Titane:Sapphire femtosecond laser and 1 ms integration time, δtmin = 10-23s. We demonstrate this limit experimentally by using pulse shaping techniques to shape the local oscillator in the detection mode. We also study the influence of the intensity and phase noise of a mode-locked femtosecond laser on this limit. This technique can also be applied in the case of ranging in a dispersive medium such as air. In this case, dispersive effects due to environmental parameters such as pressure, temperature or humidity affect the precision of measurements. Usually, this problem is tacked by measuring separately the environmental parameters or using several wavelengths, which can be difficult and require post-processing. We show that using the same technique as previously shown, the parasitic effects due to the medium in a distance measurement can be canceled by shaping properly the local oscillator [3]: we choose for the local oscillator a mode that is orthogonal to the environmental effects, so the homodyne detection is insensitive to them, at the expense of a lower sensitivity. This scheme is an all-optical and real-time measurement of distance in a dispersive medium.
Frequency combs enable precision measurements across timekeeping, spectroscopy, ranging and astronomy, and are now extending to integrated and field-deployable platforms. Realizing their full performance demands a comprehensive account of the quantum noise that arises when broadband optical fields are converted into finite-bandwidth electrical signals. Here we present a rigorous first-principles quantum-mechanical framework for optical frequency-comb metrology based on continuous-mode field quantization and a comb-line-resolved description of quantum fluctuations. The theory describes how quantum fluctuations of the comb field are transduced into electrical measurement noise. Formulated at the level of the comb field, the framework unifies the standard quantum limits of optical frequency division (OFD) and dual-comb spectroscopy (DCS) within a single treatment, and provides a general recipe for other comb-based measurements. On this footing, we identify practical, resource-efficient routes to quantum enhancement through engineered comb states, laying a foundation for the design of next-generation frequency combs operating at and beyond standard quantum limits.
Precision metrology is one application of optical frequency combs. Classical noise in their properties typically limits achievable measurement sensitivity. Amplitude and phase noise in optical frequency combs have already been studied extensively. So far, noise sidebands close to the carrier of either individual optical frequencies or of the mean field have been considered. This thesis develops methods to precisely characterize amplitude and phase noise down to the quantum limit. To this aim a transmissive, broadband passive cavity is developed. It filters and inter-converts amplitude and phase noise. The analysis of its signal by the use of homodyne detection provides a quantum limited measurement of phase noise. The application of ultrafast pulse shaping enables the measurement of the spectral correlations of amplitude and phase noise. Being represented by the use of covariance matrices, the entire noise correlations over the optical spectrum are characterized on the example of a Ti:Sapph oscillator. The measured noise correlations exhibit spectral structures, so-called modes. Their shape matches with the theoretical prediction. This concept known from multi-partite optical quantum systems is consequently applicable to classical noise in frequency combs. The knowledge of the intrinsic noise modes is likely provide an improvement of precision metrology experiments with combs.
Quantum sensing promises to revolutionize sensing applications by employing quantum states of light or matter as sensing probes. Photons are the clear choice as quantum probes for remote sensing because they can travel to and interact with a distant target. Existing schemes are mainly based on the quantum illumination framework, which requires quantum memory to store a single photon of an initially entangled pair until its twin reflects off a target and returns for final correlation measurements. Existing demonstrations are limited to tabletop experiments, and expanding the sensing range faces various roadblocks, including long-time quantum storage and photon loss and noise when transmitting quantum signals over long distances. We propose a novel quantum sensing framework that addresses these challenges using quantum frequency combs with path identity for remote sensing of signatures (“qCOMBPASS”). The combination of one key quantum phenomenon and two quantum resources—namely, quantum-induced coherence by path identity, quantum frequency combs, and two-mode squeezed light—allows for quantum remote sensing without requiring quantum memory. The proposed scheme is akin to a quantum radar based on entangled frequency-comb pairs that uses path identity to detect, range, or sense a remote target of interest by measuring pulses of one comb in the pair that never traveled to the target but that contains target information “teleported” by quantum-induced coherence by path identity from the other comb in the pair that traveled to the target but is not detected. We develop the basic qCOMBPASS theory, analyze the properties of the qCOMBPASS transceiver, and introduce the qCOMBPASS equation—a quantum analog of the well-known LIDAR equation in classical remote sensing. We also describe an experimental scheme to demonstrate the concept using two-mode squeezed quantum combs. qCOMBPASS can strongly impact various applications in remote quantum sensing, imaging, metrology, and communications. These applications include detection and ranging of low-reflectivity objects, measurement of small displacements of a remote target with precision beyond the standard quantum limit (SQL), standoff hyperspectral quantum imaging, discreet surveillance from space with low detection probability (detect without being detected), very-long-baseline interferometry, quantum Doppler sensing, quantum clock synchronization, and networks of distributed quantum sensors. Published by the American Physical Society 2024