Single-Photon Vibrometry

TL;DR

This paper introduces a highly sensitive optical vibrometry technique using single-photon detection, capable of measuring minute displacements and vibrations in photon-starved conditions, with potential applications in remote sensing and imaging.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel single-photon sensitive method for optical vibrometry that achieves high sensitivity and frequency resolution in low-photon environments.

Findings

Detects displacements as small as 110 nm

Resolves vibration frequencies from DC to several kHz

Operates with less than 0.01 photons per pulse

Abstract

We propose and demonstrate a single-photon sensitive technique for optical vibrometry. It uses high speed photon counting to sample the modulated backscattering from a vibrating target. Designed for remote vibration sensing with ultralow photon flux, we show that this technique can detect small displacements down to 110 nm and resolve vibration frequencies from DC up to several kilohertz, with less than 0.01 detected photons per pulse. This single-photon sensitive optical vibrometry may find important applications in acousto-optic sensing and imaging, especially in photon-starved environments.