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Advances in quantum imaging

Nature Photonics volume 18, pages 1024–1036 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Modern imaging technologies are widely based on classical principles of light or electromagnetic wave propagation. They can be remarkably sophisticated, with recent successes ranging from single-molecule microscopy to imaging far-distant galaxies. However, new imaging technologies based on quantum principles are gradually emerging. They can either surpass classical approaches or provide novel imaging capabilities that would not otherwise be possible. Here we provide an overview of the most recently developed quantum imaging systems, highlighting the nonclassical properties of sources, such as bright squeezed light, entangled photons and single-photon emitters that enable their functionality. We outline potential upcoming trends and the associated challenges, all driven by a central enquiry, which is to understand whether quantum light can make visible the invisible.

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Fig. 1: SPADE for optimal separation estimation.
Fig. 2: Biological imaging with bright squeezed light.
Fig. 3: Imaging with two-photon states.
Fig. 4: Microscopes based on imaging with undetected photons and single-photon emitters.

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Acknowledgements

W.P.B. acknowledges support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under awards nos. FA9550-20-1-0391 and FA9550-22-1-0047, the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems (EQUS, CE170100009) and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Quantum Biotechnology (QUBIC, CE230100021). H.D. acknowledges funding from an ERC Starting Grant (grant no. SQIMIC-101039375). G.B.L. acknowledges CAPES, CNPq and FAPERJ (JCNE, E-26/201.438/2021) from the John Templeton Foundation (grant no. 62424). S.R. acknowledges funding by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under projects nos. 13N16384, 13N15402 and 13N15944, as well as by the Einstein Foundation Berlin (EJF-2021-681). D.F. is supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering through the Chairs in Emerging Technologies programme and the UKRI Frontier Research scheme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Institut des NanoSciences de Paris, INSP, Paris, France

    Hugo Defienne

  2. School of Mathematics and Physics, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia

    Warwick P. Bowen

  3. ARC Centre of Excellence in Quantum Biotechnology, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia

    Warwick P. Bowen

  4. Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen, Germany

    Maria Chekhova

  5. Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

    Maria Chekhova

  6. Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Gabriela Barreto Lemos

  7. Department of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

    Dan Oron

  8. Institut für Physik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Sven Ramelow

  9. IRIS Adlershof, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Sven Ramelow

  10. Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, ENS-Université PSL, Collège de France, Paris, France

    Nicolas Treps

  11. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

    Daniele Faccio

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Defienne, H., Bowen, W.P., Chekhova, M. et al. Advances in quantum imaging. Nat. Photon. 18, 1024–1036 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-024-01516-w

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