Fast quantum interferometry at the nanometer and attosecond scales with energy-entangled photons

Abstract

In classical optical interferometry, loss and background complicate achieving fast nanometer-resolution measurements with illumination at low light levels. Conversely, quantum two-photon interference is unaffected by loss and background, but nanometer-scale resolution is physically difficult to realize. As a solution, we enhance two-photon interference with highly non-degenerate energy entanglement featuring photon frequencies separated by 177 THz. We observe measurement resolution at the nanometer (attosecond) scale with only $O(10^4)$ photon pairs, despite the presence of background and loss. Our non-destructive thickness measurement of a metallic thin film agrees with atomic force microscopy, which often achieves better resolution via destructive means. With contactless, non-destructive measurements in seconds or faster, our instrument enables metrological studies in optically challenging contexts where background, loss, or photosensitivity are factors.

arXiv commentScience Advances accepted version. 13 pages, 5 figures (Main Text); 47 pages, 18 figures (Supplementary Materials)

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