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Optics Express

High-volume-resolution quantum optical coherence tomography imaging with efficient artifact removal

Naofumi Abe, Tomoyasu Horino, Yoko Kawaguchi, Ryo Okamoto, Shigeki Takeuchi

Published Jun 11, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

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.

DOI
10.1364/oe.574265

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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.
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 Optical Coherence Tomography (Q-OCT) is a non-classical equivalent of Optical Coherence Tomography and is able to provide a twofold axial resolution increase and immunity to resolution-degrading dispersion. The main drawback of Q-OCT are artefacts which are additional elements that clutter an A-scan and lead to a complete loss of structural information for multilayered objects. Whereas there are very practical and successful methods for artefact removal in Time-domain Q-OCT, no such scheme has been devised for Fourier-domain Q-OCT (Fd-Q-OCT), although the latter modality-through joint spectrum detection-outputs a lot of useful information on both the system and the imaged object. Here, we propose two algorithms which process a Fd-Q-OCT joint spectrum into an artefact-free A-scan. We present the theoretical background of these algorithms and show their performance on computer-generated data. The limitations of both algorithms with regards to the experimental system and the imaged object are discussed.
Using spectrally correlated photon pairs instead of classical laser light and coincidence detection instead of light intensity detection, Quantum Optical Coherence Tomography (Q-OCT) outperforms classical OCT in several experimental terms. It provides twice better axial resolution with the same spectral bandwidth and it is immune to even-order chromatic dispersion, including Group Velocity Dispersion responsible for the bulk of axial resolution degradation in the OCT images. Q-OCT has been performed in the time domain configuration, where one line of the two-dimensional image is acquired by axially translating the mirror in the interferometer's reference arm and measuring the coincidence rate of photons arriving at two single-photon-sensitive detectors. Although successful at producing resolution-doubled and dispersion-cancelled images, it is still relatively slow and cannot compete with its classical counterpart. Here, we experimentally demonstrate Q-OCT in a much faster Fourier-domain configuration, theoretically proposed in 2020, where the reference mirror is fixed and the joint spectrum is acquired by inserting long fibre spools in front of the detectors. We propose two joint spectrum pre-processing algorithms, aimed at compensating resolution-degrading effects within the setup. While the first one targets fibre spool dispersion, an effect specific to this configuration, the other one removes the effects leading to the weakening of even-order dispersion cancellation, the latter impossible to be mitigated in the time-domain alternative. Being additionally contrasted with both the time-domain approach and the conventional OCT in terms of axial resolution, imaging range and multilayer-object imaging, Fourier-domain Q-OCT is shown to be a significant step forward towards a practical and competitive solution in the OCT arena.
Quantum optical coherence tomography (Q-OCT) is the non-classical counterpart of optical coherence tomography (OCT), a high-resolution 3D imaging technique based on white-light interferometry. Because Q-OCT uses a source of frequency-entangled photon pairs, not only is the axial resolution not affected by dispersion mismatch in the interferometer but is also inherently improved by a factor of two. Unfortunately, practical applications of Q-OCT are hindered by image-scrambling artefacts and slow acquisition times. Here, we present a theoretical analysis of a novel approach that is free of these problems: Fourier domain Q-OCT (Fd-Q-OCT). Based on a photon pair coincidence detection as in the standard Q-OCT configuration, it also discerns each photon pair by their wavelength. We show that all the information about the internal structures of the object is encoded in the joint spectrum and can be easily retrieved through Fourier transformation. No depth scanning is required, making our technique potentially faster than standard Q-OCT. Finally, we show that the data available in the joint spectrum enables artefact removal and discuss prospective algorithms for doing so.