Final Report Summary - QUAMI (The Quantum Microscope)
This project advances the field of optical imaging and, more specifically, microscopy, by offering novel techniques for the manipulation of light. Results that are immediately relevant to the field of biological microscopy and can be applied in the near term have been achieved in the area of wavefront shaping, a technique that crafts optical fields that are optimized to propagate through complex scattering layers. Wavefront shaping could improve deep tissue bio-imaging and microsurgery, and the results obtained in this project already made several significant contributions to its implementation. As an example, it was shown that nonlinear feedback, achieved via two-photon fluorescence or other nonlinear optical effect, could enable imaging via turbid layers and through multimode fibers, while controlling and measuring the light entirely from the observer side, in contrast to most other methods that require some access to the object side of the scattering layer.
Results that could affect imaging in the longer term are related to the generation of special quantum states of light. It was shown, for example, that such states could be used for high-sensitivity imaging at low light levels and perhaps even offer super-resolution beyond what is possible with classical sources. Also, special nonclassical states of light were generated by mixing coherent laser states with spontaneous down-converted light, that enable super-resolution in nonlinear lithography while being more robust to system imperfections such as loss and scattering.
Results that could affect imaging in the longer term are related to the generation of special quantum states of light. It was shown, for example, that such states could be used for high-sensitivity imaging at low light levels and perhaps even offer super-resolution beyond what is possible with classical sources. Also, special nonclassical states of light were generated by mixing coherent laser states with spontaneous down-converted light, that enable super-resolution in nonlinear lithography while being more robust to system imperfections such as loss and scattering.