Controlling the Flow of Information in Optical Metrology

Fuente: arXiv
Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Weimar, Maximilian, Zhou, Huanli, Neubacher, Luca, Grant, Thomas A., Hüpfl, Jakob, MacDonald, Kevin F., Rotter, Stefan, Zheludev, Nikolay I.
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
_version_ 1866908824232787968
author Weimar, Maximilian
Zhou, Huanli
Neubacher, Luca
Grant, Thomas A.
Hüpfl, Jakob
MacDonald, Kevin F.
Rotter, Stefan
Zheludev, Nikolay I.
author_facet Weimar, Maximilian
Zhou, Huanli
Neubacher, Luca
Grant, Thomas A.
Hüpfl, Jakob
MacDonald, Kevin F.
Rotter, Stefan
Zheludev, Nikolay I.
contents Optical metrology has progressed beyond the Abbe-Rayleigh limit, unlocking (sub)atomic precision by leveraging nonlinear phenomena, statistical accumulation, and AI estimators trained on measurand variations. Here, we show that Fisher information, which defines the fundamental precision limit, can be viewed as a physical entity that propagates through space, and we derive a wave equation for sensitivity fields describing its flow, which can resonate, diffract, and interfere. We reveal how material composition, geometry, and environmental design dictate where information is generated and how it travels, analogous to antennas and metasurfaces sculpting electromagnetic energy. Plasmonic and dielectric resonances enhance information flow, while gratings and near-field structures reshape radiation patterns. This perspective reframes metrology as a discipline in which resolution can be engineered by tailoring information sources and flow for applications in atomic-scale diagnostics and beyond, including optimisation of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), remote sensing, and radar technologies.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_13640
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Controlling the Flow of Information in Optical Metrology
Weimar, Maximilian
Zhou, Huanli
Neubacher, Luca
Grant, Thomas A.
Hüpfl, Jakob
MacDonald, Kevin F.
Rotter, Stefan
Zheludev, Nikolay I.
Optics
Optical metrology has progressed beyond the Abbe-Rayleigh limit, unlocking (sub)atomic precision by leveraging nonlinear phenomena, statistical accumulation, and AI estimators trained on measurand variations. Here, we show that Fisher information, which defines the fundamental precision limit, can be viewed as a physical entity that propagates through space, and we derive a wave equation for sensitivity fields describing its flow, which can resonate, diffract, and interfere. We reveal how material composition, geometry, and environmental design dictate where information is generated and how it travels, analogous to antennas and metasurfaces sculpting electromagnetic energy. Plasmonic and dielectric resonances enhance information flow, while gratings and near-field structures reshape radiation patterns. This perspective reframes metrology as a discipline in which resolution can be engineered by tailoring information sources and flow for applications in atomic-scale diagnostics and beyond, including optimisation of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), remote sensing, and radar technologies.
title Controlling the Flow of Information in Optical Metrology
topic Optics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.13640