Deterministic Super Resolution with Coherent States at the Shot Noise Limit

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that super-resolution phase measurements at the shot noise limit can be achieved using classical coherent states, high-efficiency homodyne detection, and a deterministic processing technique, without non-classical states.

Contribution

It introduces a method for super-resolution measurement at the shot noise limit using classical light and deterministic processing, avoiding complex quantum states.

Findings

Achieved 12-fold fringe narrowing at the shot noise limit.

Demonstrated super-resolution scaling with 1/√N using coherent states.

Validated the approach with experimental results.

Abstract

Interference of light fields plays an important role in various high-precision measurement schemes. It has been shown that super resolving phase measurements beyond the standard coherent state limit can be obtained either by using maximally entangled multi-particle states of light or using complex detection approaches. Here we show that super resolving phase measurements at the shot noise limit can be achieved without resorting to non-classical optical states or to low-efficiency detection processes. Using robust coherent states of light, high-efficiency homodyne detection and a deterministic binarization processing technique, we show a narrowing of the interference fringes that scales with 1/Sqrt{N} where N is the mean number of photons of the coherent state. Experimentally we demonstrate a 12-fold narrowing at the shot noise limit.