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Quantum Entanglement Goes Mainstream
Quantum entanglement has always seemed little more than a curiosity. Increasingly however, technologies are emerging based on this strange phenomenon. Now a group of Japanese physicists have found a way to exceed the standard quantum limit in microscopy by using entangled photons. Please see below.
Entanglement Enhanced Microscope
Japanese physicists have built a microscope that utilizes entangled photons to create images that are sharper than is possible with ordinary light. The sensitivity of the Quantum Entanglement Microscope as compared to a classical microscope is √N times better, where N is the number of photons entangled. Entanglement enhanced microscopy allows imaging beyond the standard quantum limit (SQL) and could be useful in applications where the light intensity of the microscope must be kept low for fear of damaging the sample being observed (e.g. biological tissues).
(a) Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) image of a glass plate sample (BK7) on which a 'Q' shape is carved in relief using optical lithography. (b) The section of the AFM image of the sample, which is the area outlined in red in (a). (c) The image of the sample using an entanglement-enhanced microscope where two-photon entangled state is used to illuminate the sample. (d) The image of the sample using single photons (a classical light source).
Sources for further reading
Original Arxiv Article
MIT Technology Review Writeup of the Article
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Re: A Quantum Entanglement Enhanced Microscope by Roger Pink
