Fast quantum interferometry at the nanometer and attosecond scales with energy-entangled photons

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lualdi, Colin P., Johnson, Spencer J., Vayninger, Michael, Meier, Kristina A., Sahoo, Swetapadma, Bogdanov, Simeon I., Kwiat, Paul G.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866910961277861888
author Lualdi, Colin P.
Johnson, Spencer J.
Vayninger, Michael
Meier, Kristina A.
Sahoo, Swetapadma
Bogdanov, Simeon I.
Kwiat, Paul G.
author_facet Lualdi, Colin P.
Johnson, Spencer J.
Vayninger, Michael
Meier, Kristina A.
Sahoo, Swetapadma
Bogdanov, Simeon I.
Kwiat, Paul G.
contents In classical optical interferometry, loss and background complicate achieving fast nanometer-resolution measurements with illumination at low light levels. Conversely, quantum two-photon interference is unaffected by loss and background, but nanometer-scale resolution is physically difficult to realize. As a solution, we enhance two-photon interference with highly non-degenerate energy entanglement featuring photon frequencies separated by 177 THz. We observe measurement resolution at the nanometer (attosecond) scale with only $O(10^4)$ photon pairs, despite the presence of background and loss. Our non-destructive thickness measurement of a metallic thin film agrees with atomic force microscopy, which often achieves better resolution via destructive means. With contactless, non-destructive measurements in seconds or faster, our instrument enables metrological studies in optically challenging contexts where background, loss, or photosensitivity are factors.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_15956
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Fast quantum interferometry at the nanometer and attosecond scales with energy-entangled photons
Lualdi, Colin P.
Johnson, Spencer J.
Vayninger, Michael
Meier, Kristina A.
Sahoo, Swetapadma
Bogdanov, Simeon I.
Kwiat, Paul G.
Quantum Physics
Optics
In classical optical interferometry, loss and background complicate achieving fast nanometer-resolution measurements with illumination at low light levels. Conversely, quantum two-photon interference is unaffected by loss and background, but nanometer-scale resolution is physically difficult to realize. As a solution, we enhance two-photon interference with highly non-degenerate energy entanglement featuring photon frequencies separated by 177 THz. We observe measurement resolution at the nanometer (attosecond) scale with only $O(10^4)$ photon pairs, despite the presence of background and loss. Our non-destructive thickness measurement of a metallic thin film agrees with atomic force microscopy, which often achieves better resolution via destructive means. With contactless, non-destructive measurements in seconds or faster, our instrument enables metrological studies in optically challenging contexts where background, loss, or photosensitivity are factors.
title Fast quantum interferometry at the nanometer and attosecond scales with energy-entangled photons
topic Quantum Physics
Optics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.15956