Thresholded Quantum LIDAR: Exploiting Photon-Number-Resolving Detection

Lior Cohen, Elisha S. Matekole, Yoni Sher, Daniel Istrati, Hagai S. Eisenberg, and Jonathan P. Dowling

Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 203601 – Published 11 November 2019

Abstract

We present a technique that improves the signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) of range-finding, sensing, and other light-detection applications. The technique filters out low photon numbers using photon-number-resolving detectors. This technique has no classical analog and cannot be done with classical detectors. We investigate the properties of our technique and show under what conditions the scheme surpasses the classical SNR. Finally, we simulate the operation of a rangefinder, showing improvement with a low number of signal samplings and confirming the theory with a high number of signal samplings.

Received 23 June 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.203601

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Photon statistics Quantum measurements Quantum sensing

Atomic, Molecular & OpticalQuantum Information, Science & Technology

Authors & Affiliations

Lior Cohen ^1,*, Elisha S. Matekole¹, Yoni Sher ², Daniel Istrati³, Hagai S. Eisenberg³, and Jonathan P. Dowling^1,4,5,6

¹Hearne Institute for Theoretical Physics, and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA
²School of Computer Science and Engineering, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
³Racah Institue for Physics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
⁴NYU-ECNU Institute of Physics at NYU Shanghai, 3663 Zhongshan Road North, Shanghai 200062, China
⁵CAS-Alibaba Quantum Computing Laboratory, CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Shanghai 201315, China
⁶National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, 4-2-1, Nukui-Kitamachi, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8795, Japan