Toward practical quantum-enhanced microscopies*

Quantum light sources are increasingly essential to the development of the next generation of sensors and microscopes. While squeezed light exhibiting quantum noise reduction has been leveraged to enable quantum-enhanced measurements of microcantilever beam displacement [1], substantial further improvements are required to enable realistic quantum-enhanced scanning probe microscopy. We will discuss an approach to scanning probe microscopy based on truncated nonlinear interferometry that enables minimum photon back-action noise while also operating below the photon shot noise limit [2]. Further, we will explore photon correlation measurements in cathodoluminescence microscopies as a path toward the sub-diffraction-limited characterization of single color centers and excitons in nanostructured and 2D materials.
[1] R.C. Pooser and B.J. Lawrie, Optica 2, 393, (2015)
[2] arXiv:1912.10550