Super-resolution three-dimensional imaging and multi-parametric sensing enabled by the use of quantum resources
Start: February 2016
Student: Carmine Napoli
Supervisors: Samanta Piano, Gerardo Adesso (School of Mathematical Science, Nottingham)
Funding: ERC Starting Grant GQCOP, Faculty of Engineering Funding and DTG
The ability to perform high precision measurements, sensing, and imaging at micro- and nano-scale underpins a plethora of applications in manufacturing industry, biomedical sciences, fundamental physics and information technology. Several techniques to scan and reconstruct complex features of three-dimensional inert or living samples have been developed in recent years, and the quest to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio and the acquisition rate in these setups is still very much open. The majority of optical imaging techniques (e.g. fringe projection, or focus variation) utilise light sources which are essentially modelled as classical, which means that the precision achievable in such setups is a priori limited by the so-called shot noise limit. On the other hand, it is well known that quantum features such as superposition and entanglement can give rise to an enhanced precision in metrology and imaging, allowing one to beat those limitations. In this project, the student will investigate challenges and possibilities for super-resolution three-dimensional imaging and multi-parametric sensing enabled by the use of quantum resources, such as squeezed states of light and quantum-correlated multimode sources. On the fundamental level, the project will illustrate the operational meaning of different types of quantum resources (including quantum coherence, quantum entanglement, quantum nonlocality, quantum discord) for metrology, sensing, and imaging tasks. On the practical level, the project will lead to feasible schemes to enhance existing systems for optical interferometry and geometry measurements, exploiting such quantum resources.
