Experimental observation of sub-Rayleigh quantum imaging with a two-photon entangled source

Abstract

It has been theoretically predicted that N-photon quantum imaging can realize either an N-fold resolution improvement (Heisenberg-like scaling) or a N-fold resolution improvement (standard quantum limit) beyond the Rayleigh diffraction bound, over classical imaging. Here, we report the experimental study on spatial sub-Rayleigh quantum imaging using a two-photon entangled source. Two experimental schemes are proposed and performed. In a Fraunhofer diffraction scheme with a lens, two-photon Airy disk pattern is observed with subwavelength diffraction property. In a lens imaging apparatus, however, two-photon sub-Rayleigh imaging for an object is realized with super-resolution property. The experimental results agree with the theoretical prediction in the two-photon quantum imaging regime.