Terahertz Quantum Imaging

Abstract

Quantum imaging offers a powerful method for spatially transferring amplitude and phase information between spectral regions of interest, even when separated by several orders of magnitude in photon energy. However, so far demonstrations have been limited to regions of similar orders of magnitude in frequency, where commercial cameras are available. Here, amplitude- and phase-sensitive imaging in the terahertz frequency region (1.5 THz) is demonstrated by detecting only visible photons (662.2 nm, 452.7 THz), separated by over two orders of magnitude. This allows reliable detection of terahertz information using a standard CMOS camera without cooling while still achieving spatial resolution close to the terahertz wavelength. The impact of strong noise contributions is reduced through quantum distillation.The experimental results are in good agreement with numerical simulations of the imaging process and demonstrate the huge potential of this method for exploring challenging spectral regions where conventional cameras are not available.