Jones-matrix imaging based on two-photon interference.

Area of Science:

• Quantum optics
• Quantum information science
• Metasurface applications

Background:

• Two-photon interference, linked to light's quantum nature, underpins quantum imaging.
• The Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) effect demonstrates photon bunching, enabling pixel-level characterization of sample properties like amplitude, phase, and polarization.
• Metasurfaces offer novel ways to control light polarization, with potential in advanced imaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate Jones matrix imaging of an unknown object using two-photon interference.
• To develop a method for characterizing polarization responses at each pixel of a sample.
• To leverage metasurfaces for efficient and parallelized quantum optical measurements.

Main Methods:

• Utilized two-photon interference and the Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) effect.
• Employed a reference metasurface with known polarization responses.
• Performed pairwise coincidence measurements and analyzed coincidence visibility dependence on reference polarization.

Main Results:

• Successfully retrieved the object's polarization responses at each pixel.
• Demonstrated parallelized optical measurements for Jones matrix characterization by post-selecting coincidence images.
• Eliminated the need to switch incident polarization during measurements.

Conclusions:

• Two-photon interference combined with metasurfaces provides a powerful tool for Jones matrix imaging.
• The developed technique enables parallelized quantum optical measurements, advantageous for quantum algorithms.
• This approach shows promise for future applications in quantum-enhanced biological and medical imaging.