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Quantum-Enhanced 3D Optical Microscopy (Q3DOM)

量子增强 3D 光学显微镜 (Q3DOM)

基本信息

批准号：
BB/X004317/1
负责人：
Alexander Lvovsky
金额：
$ 23.17万
依托单位：
University of Oxford
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2023
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2023 至无数据
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FX004317%2F1
关键词：
Quantum Enhanced 3D Optical Microscopy

项目摘要

Since the invention of optical imaging devices, such as microscopes and telescopes, there has been a quest to enhance their resolution. A fundamental limitation, known as the Rayleigh limit, is associated with diffraction: conventional optical systems cannot resolve angular separations smaller than the wavelength of the emitted light. In the last decades, a number of techniques for circumventing the diffraction limit in microscopy have been proposed, defining a field called superresolution imaging. However, these approaches are either operational in the near-field, or rely on non-linear probing, which makes them expensive, invasive, and not universally applicable.Developing an imaging technology that is linear-optical, operational in the far-field regime, and able to reconstruct three-dimensional structures would mark a revolution in all fields of science, engineering, biology and medicine that involve optical imaging.Although the diffraction limit has existed for 150 years and appeared unshakeable, a recent theoretical breakthrough has revealed that it can be beaten by applying a fundamentally different method of detection. Rather than measuring the intensity as a function of the transverse position in the collection plane (as the traditional "direct imaging" approach), one can measure the correlation of electromagnetic field amplitudes at different transverse positions. In practice, this involves detecting the light emitted by an object in higher-order transverse electromagnetic modes and enables one to extract further information about the incoming field, thereby achieving sub-Rayleigh precision and in principle reaching the ultimate resolution limits allowed by quantum mechanics. This discovery has been confirmed by a number of experiments, notably a recent work by the Oxford PI, which demonstrated, for the first time, the application of the new technique to obtain full 2D images of complex objects. However, there is still a long way to go before this method can become a mainstream, universally applicable imaging technique. One of the challenges is to extend the method to 3D imaging - that is, the task of mapping out the heights of object surface features. We will address this major challenge in this project. Reliant on the conceptual theory, recently developed by the Nottingham PI and Co-I, we will design an innovative instrument based on the core working principle of quantum superresolution, benchmark its capabilities against theoretical simulations, and demonstrate its performance in imaging real 3D samples. The main advantage of our proposed technology is its non-invasive nature. It will achieve sub-Rayleigh lateral and angular resolution without requiring any interaction and proximity to the sample, but by passively analysing the light field arriving from the sample making use of optimised detectors. Our proposed technology can therefore find wide-ranging applications, including imaging of biological tissues, quality control in additive manufacturing, and astronomical observations of twin stars and exoplanets.

自从显微镜和望远镜等光学成像设备发明以来，人们一直在寻求提高其分辨率。一个基本限制（称为瑞利极限）与衍射相关：传统光学系统无法解析小于发射光波长的角距。在过去的几十年里，人们提出了许多规避显微镜衍射极限的技术，定义了一个称为超分辨率成像的领域。然而，这些方法要么在近场操作，要么依赖非线性探测，这使得它们昂贵、侵入性且不普遍适用。开发一种线性光学、在远场范围操作并能够重建三维结构的成像技术将标志着涉及光学成像的所有科学、工程、生物学和医学领域的一场革命。尽管衍射极限已经存在了 150 年来，它似乎不可动摇，但最近的一项理论突破表明，可以通过应用一种根本不同的检测方法来击败它。人们可以测量不同横向位置处电磁场振幅的相关性，而不是测量作为收集平面中横向位置的函数的强度（如传统的“直接成像”方法）。实际上，这涉及以高阶横向电磁模式检测物体发射的光，并使人们能够提取有关入射场的更多信息，从而实现亚瑞利精度，并原则上达到量子力学允许的最终分辨率极限。这一发现得到了许多实验的证实，特别是牛津大学 PI 最近的一项工作，该工作首次证明了新技术的应用来获取复杂物体的完整二维图像。然而，这种方法要成为主流、普遍适用的成像技术还有很长的路要走。挑战之一是将该方法扩展到 3D 成像，即绘制物体表面特征高度的任务。我们将在这个项目中解决这一重大挑战。依靠诺丁汉 PI 和 Co-I 最近开发的概念理论，我们将设计一种基于量子超分辨率核心工作原理的创新仪器，根据理论模拟对其功能进行基准测试，并展示其在真实 3D 样本成像中的性能。我们提出的技术的主要优点是其非侵入性。它将实现亚瑞利横向和角度分辨率，无需与样品进行任何交互和接近，而是利用优化的探测器被动分析来自样品的光场。因此，我们提出的技术可以找到广泛的应用，包括生物组织成像、增材制造中的质量控制以及双星和系外行星的天文观测。