MRI: Acquisition of a Time-Resolved, Image-Intensified Camera for the Spatial Imaging of Quantum-Entangled Photons

相机成像改变了科学和社会。现代相机经常用电子探测器阵列记录大量的光子，也就是光的量子粒子。这项研究项目将研究由少量单个光子携带的图像的新应用。将获得一台最先进的相机来研究由单光子形成的图像。这将为研究如何利用光子的量子方面(如纠缠)来完成成像开辟了新的可能性。该团队将探索新的成像方法如何能够加深对光的理解，并为开发新的量子技术铺平道路。该相机还将使本科生能够研究量子光学现象，如“鬼影成像”，这将改善他们对量子物理基础的教育。光的空间模式是图像的基本组成部分。这项研究的目标是成像单个光子的空间模式，这些光子与其他光子以及其他自由度(如偏振)量子纠缠。这种图像增强型相机将能够获取光子的图像，而传统相机由于触发技术的缺陷而无法获得这些图像。这个团队将研究使用相机来表征光的量子状态，方法是替代目前的方法。该团队还将研究光子通过其纠缠携带的图像，他们将研究光的高维超纠缠。该相机将帮助本科生利用纠缠光子进行量子光学研究，这将提高学生对量子纠缠的理解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Imaging with cameras has transformed science and society. Modern cameras often record huge numbers of photons, the quantum-particles of light, with arrays of electronic detectors. This research project will investigate new applications for images that are carried by a small number of individual photons. A state-of-the-art camera will be acquired to study images formed with single photons. This will open new possibilities for studying how imaging can be accomplished in ways that take advantage of quantum aspects of photons, such as entanglement. This team will explore how new imaging methods can lead to a deeper understanding of light and pave the way to developing new quantum technologies. The camera will also enable undergraduates to do research on quantum optics phenomena, such as "ghost imaging", and this will improve their education on the fundamentals of quantum physics.Spatial modes of light are the basic components of images. The goal of this research is to image the spatial modes of single photons that are quantum entangled with other photons, and with other degrees of freedom, such as polarization. The image-intensified camera will enable acquiring the images of photons that are not possible with conventional cameras due to shortcomings in their triggering technology. This team will investigate using the camera to characterize the quantum state of the light in ways that are alternative to current methods. This team will also investigate the images carried by photons through their entanglement, and they will investigate high-dimensional hyper-entanglement of light. The camera will help undergraduates to do research in quantum optics with entangled photons, and this will improve students' understanding of quantum entanglement.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.