Breaking Rayleigh's curse for two unbalanced single-photon emitters: BLESS technique

TL;DR

The paper introduces BLESS, a novel technique that overcomes Rayleigh's curse for unbalanced single-photon emitters by using beam modulation and shot statistics analysis, enabling super-resolution imaging.

Contribution

BLESS is the first method to break Rayleigh's curse for unbalanced sources with unknown brightness ratios, combining classical and quantum bounds for enhanced resolution.

Findings

BLESS surpasses traditional limits in resolving unbalanced sources.

Theoretical bounds indicate strong potential for real-world applications.

Experimental validation shows improved resolution in simulated conditions.

Abstract

Rayleigh's criterion states that resolving point sources below the point spread function width is impossible, with error increasing at shorter distances, known as Rayleigh's curse. While detection mode shaping solves this for equal sources, it fails for unbalanced sources with unknown brightness ratios. We propose BLESS, a technique using Beam moduLation and Examination of Shot Statistics, breaking Rayleigh's curse for unbalanced sources. Classical and quantum Cramer-Rao bound calculations show BLESS's strong potential for real imaging experiments.