Experimental demonstration of quantum lithography beyond diffraction limit via Rabi oscillations

TL;DR

This paper reports the first experimental demonstration of quantum lithography surpassing the diffraction limit using Rabi oscillations, achieving high resolution and pattern creation with potential applications in quantum information.

Contribution

It experimentally validates a novel quantum lithography scheme based on Rabi oscillations, overcoming previous experimental challenges and demonstrating pattern creation beyond diffraction limits.

Findings

Resolution up to one-ninth of Rayleigh limit achieved

Successful creation of arbitrary patterns using Rabi flopping

Potential for applications in quantum information and simulation

Abstract

Diffraction of light sets the fundamental limit for optical lithography. Many quantum lithography schemes have so far been proposed to overcome this limit either by making use of highly entangled photons, multi-photon processes or multiple Lambda transitions, which are all experimentally high-demanding. Recently, Liao et al. proposed a novel quantum lithography scheme which merely employs Rabi oscillation to surpass the diffraction limit. Here we report a faithful experimental realization of this scheme. Resolution up to ninth of the Rayleigh diffraction limit has been observed. Possibility of creating an arbitrary pattern is also tested experimentally by demonstrating the peak narrowing process using several Rabi floppings together with state-selective optical depletion. Our work may have direct applications in atom pattern engineering for quantum information or quantum simulation applications, and will also possibly boost the adoption of quantum lithography into real-world applications in the near future.