Toward practical quantum-enhanced microscopies

Quantum light sources are increasingly essential to the development of the next generation of sensors and microscopes. While squeezed light exhibiting quantum noise reduction has been leveraged to enable quantum-enhanced measurements of microcantilever beam displacement, substantial further improvements are required to enable realistic quantum-enhanced scanning probe microscopy. We will discuss an approach to scanning probe microscopy based on truncated nonlinear interferometry that enables minimum photon back-action noise while also operating below the photon shot noise limit [1]. Further, we will explore photon correlation measurements in cathodoluminescence microscopies as a path toward the sub-diffraction-limited characterization of single color centers and excitons in nanostructured and 2D materials.

[1] Pooser, R. C., Savino, N., Batson, E., Beckey, J. L., Garcia, J., & Lawrie, B. J. Physical Review Letters, 124, 230504 (2020)