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Quantum microscopy based on Hong–Ou–Mandel interference

2022; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 16; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/s41566-022-00980-6

1749-4893

Bienvenu Ndagano, Hugo Defienne, Dominic Branford, Yash D. Shah, Ashley Lyons, Niclas Westerberg, Erik M. Gauger, Daniele Faccio,

Digital Holography and Microscopy

Hong–Ou–Mandel (HOM) interference—the bunching of indistinguishable photons at a beamsplitter—is a staple of quantum optics and lies at the heart of many quantum sensing approaches and recent optical quantum computers. Here we report a full-field, scan-free quantum imaging technique that exploits HOM interference to reconstruct the surface depth profile of transparent samples. We demonstrate the ability to retrieve images with micrometre-scale depth features with photon flux as small as seven photon pairs per frame. Using a single-photon avalanche diode camera, we measure both bunched and anti-bunched photon-pair distributions at the output of an HOM interferometer, which are combined to provide a lower-noise image of the sample. This approach demonstrates the possibility of HOM microscopy as a tool for the label-free imaging of transparent samples in the very low photon regime. Hong–Ou–Mandel interference enables depth-resolved quantum imaging at very low light levels.