Quantum statistical imaging of particles without restriction of the diffraction limit

TL;DR

This paper introduces a quantum statistical imaging method that leverages anti-bunching photon emission to surpass diffraction limits, enabling high-resolution imaging of quantum particles like Nitrogen-Vacancy centers.

Contribution

The authors developed a practical quantum measurement technique using photon antibunching to image particles beyond diffraction limits with simple setup.

Findings

Successfully reconstructed images of Nitrogen-Vacancy centers 8.5 nm apart

Optically obtained axes information of quantum particles

Method can be generalized for measuring overlapping physical properties

Abstract

A practical quantum measurement method based on the quantum nature of anti-bunching photon emission has been developed to detect single particles without the restriction of the diffraction limit. By simultane- ously counting the single-photon and two-photon signals with fluorescence microscopy, the images of nearby Nitrogen-Vacancy centers in diamond at a distance of 8.5+/-2.4 nm have been successfully reconstructed. Also their axes information was optically obtained. This quantum statistical imaging technique, with a simple exper- imental setup, can also be easily generalized in the measuring and distinguishing of other physical properties with any overlapping, which shows high potential in future image and study of coupled quantum systems for quantum information techniques.