Quantum-enhanced on-chip interference microscopy

Project Information

Q-MIC

Grant agreement ID: 801060

DOI

10.3030/801060

Project closed

EC signature date 24 May 2018

Start date 1 October 2018

End date 31 March 2022

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Future and Emerging Technologies (FET)

Total cost

€ 2 840 127,50

EU contribution

€ 2 840 127,50

Coordinated by

FUNDACIO INSTITUT DE CIENCIES FOTONIQUES
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Q-MIC (Quantum-enhanced on-chip interference microscopy)

Reporting period: 2019-10-01 to 2022-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Light microscopes can detect objects through several physical processes (e.g. scattering, absorption & reflection).However,in highly transparent samples the aforementioned mechanisms are often too weak to acquire high-contrast (HC) images.Differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy is a technique that can be used to detect tiny optical path differences (phase shifts) in transparent materials.Though proposed more than 40 years ago by one of the partners (CZ),DIC microscopy is still one of the most sensitive techniques for the detection of cells and protein layers.HC microscopy is particularly challenging when light on must be kept at low intensity levels,to avoid dynamic morpho-chemical changes or a permanent damage of the sample.Optical artefacts are additional spurious effects that appear at high intensity levels,damaging the sample or introducing measurement artefacts.When a dim classical light source is used,the minimum phase contrast (∆φ) in interferometric imaging configurations is given (for coherent light) by the shot noise limit ∆φ∝1/√N (N=number of photons propagating through the sample).However,this limit is not fundamental to all light sources,non-classical states of light can overcome it,through quantum-enhanced (QE) metrological schemes which can achieve ultra-sensitive measurements.
QMIC will pioneer and validate a new microscope & imaging platform exploiting the unique combination of DIC and QE metrology.QMIC´s breakthrough is a QE imaging platform for transparent objects with unprecedented sensitivity,field-of view and depth-of-field,through a new lens-free interferometric design,highly efficient short wavelength quantum sources and dedicated single photon (SP) detector arrays for fast acquisitions.QMIC will have a significant scientific,technological and societal/industrial impact in the field of quantum imaging (QI) and sensing,on-chip microscopy and detection of biological species

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The QMIC platform has reached unprecedented sensitivities (More specific objectives are:development of lens-free DIC microscopy at SP level,QE phase imaging with entangled photons source (EPS),short wavelength(<550nm) EPS,novel SP Avalanche diode image sensor array (SPAD-ISA) and application to the material processing,photosensitive biomarkers & cells.
The focus is to define specific applications,use requirements and device specifications for the QMIC system and related components,like the identification of applications in material processing and biological detection.By the end of the 1st year, first novel EPSs and SPAD-ISA were already under development.QI in Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) and lens-free interferometric microscopy(LIM) configuration had been already designed and preliminary tested.In the 2nd year,we integrated the preliminary components:the HOM-based phase imaging,the SP phase imaging & the entanglement-based phase imaging were already tested.Dedicated SPAD-ISAs with direct coincidence readout and time-of flight with novel architectures started their development.In the 3rd year,we published a series of articles related to each partner development.By then,QMIC objectives were fulfilled,including HOM-based phase imaging,SP phase imaging and entanglement-based phase imaging of synthetic & biological.The final prototypes of SPAD-ISA and integration of the final components are completed,combining LIM with short wavelength EPS and LIM with new SPADs

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The impacts of QMIC include
-2 patent applications on EPS(Fraunhofer) and SPAD chip(POLIMI)
-Several spec sheets,e.g. interferometric reader(ICFO)
-Prototypes shipped from ICFO to Zeiss & use for other customers
-Spin off project ShinePhi incubated at ICFO
-12 publications,participation in 15 conferences/workshops,4 press release and 3 videos launched (reach impact:5M general public)
Specific achievements that go beyond SoA
-Generation of photon pairs at <600nm using a cw pump laser with pair emission rates in excess of 1M pairs per sec
-Classical phase measurement at SP level with 810nm
-QE phase measurement with 810nm EPS
-24x24 frame-based SPAD array with time-of-flight,microlens array and dedicated electronics for fast acquisition
-24x24 event-driven readout SPAD array for direct coincidence output,microlens array and dedicated electronics for fast acquisition
-Detailed statistical analysis about expected SP and coincidence rates and 1st anticorrelation measurements using SPAD array
-New technology for distillation of quantum images from classical noise backgrounds and QI approach that uses SP cameras to isolate entangled photon pairs even in the presence of camera noise
-Initial feasibility tests with the LIM of representative optical elements for extreme-UV-lithography systems and related
Expected impacts
Scientific:For the 1st time,to perform QI in a compact form.This will allow to experimentally investigate the physics and potentials of quantum effects in a microscope platform and to provide new insights in the interaction of entangled photons and other quantum states with matter, like cells.We have demonstrated that QI distillation can reduce noise and potentially become a key technology for quantum microscopy based on the HOM effect.We have also demonstrated that short wavelength EPSs represent a competitive solution for increasing the detection efficiency of a QI protocol,which in free space exploits both polarization and position entanglement.From our results,hyperentangled-based imaging has proved to be a robust QI technique,that allows phase super-resolution when compared to classical imaging at low levels of light.
Technological:QMIC will pioneer and validate a new microscope exploiting the unique combination of interferometry and QE metrology to deliver a product of unprecedented sensitivity in the low power regime:1)Extreme sensitivity detection over a large field of view and volume,well beyond those obtainable today even with sophisticated super-resolution microscopes and microarray laser scanners.2)New quantum sources,such as those to produce entangled photons and NOON states,SPAD image sensors and their integration.3)Radically new paradigm on how to develop SPAD imager building blocks of the next decade.
Industrial/societal:We have already demonstrated the potential of the technology in several areas:QMIC platform detection of photosensitive biomarkers and cells;quantum distillation in lidar protocols,e.g. based on detection of entangled photons will require this technology in order to remove background and noise;new microlens array may be used for several project SME partner (MPD) products fostering its revenues and market competitiveness;LIM can enable critical process chains in the development of EUV-lithography systems (especially meaningful as the LIM has a comparatively large field of view and fast acquisition time,which makes it potentially better suited to be integrated into a workflow than other technologies);LIM platform has also the potential to become also an economically competitive tool for the qualitative and quantitative inspection of transparent parts as an in-line system

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