Quantum holography with single-photon states

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the first experimental hologram recording using heralded single-photon states, showing improved phase and amplitude retrieval under extremely low illumination conditions, surpassing classical limitations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel quantum holography technique with heralded single-photon illumination, enabling phase retrieval beyond classical wave theory and noise limitations.

Findings

Holograms recorded with single-photon sources reveal objects not visible with classical illumination.

Heralded photons significantly improve phase and amplitude information retrieval.

The method suppresses noise via nonclassical photon correlations, enabling imaging in noisy environments.

Abstract

The retrieval of the phase with single-photon states is a fundamental and technical challenging endeavor. Here we report the first experimental realization of hologram recordings with heralded single-photon illumination and continuous observation of photon statistics. Thereby, we demonstrate the basic principle of holography with single-photon states which cannot be described with the classical wave theory. Under conditions with illumination more than 200 times weaker than the noise of the detector, a hologram (interferogram) recorded with a heralded single-photon source revealed an object not visible with non-heralded illumination and slightly higher intensity. The dramatic improvement in retrieval of amplitude and phase information achieved with the heralded single-photon source can be explained by the strong suppression of noise due to the nonclassical temporal correlation between twin photons and the small coincidence time window. The method could be useful for recording and retrieving of amplitude and phase information in the presence of strong noise, for covert imaging, and for imaging of photosensitive biological and material samples.