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Quantum super-oscillation of a single photon

Quantum super-oscillation of a single photon
Quantum super-oscillation of a single photon
Super-oscillation is a counterintuitive phenomenon describing localized fast variations of functions and fields that happen at frequencies higher than the highest Fourier component of their spectra. The physical implications of this effect have been studied in information theory and optics of classical fields, and have been used in super-resolution imaging. As a general phenomenon of wave dynamics, super-oscillations have also been predicted to exist in quantum wavefunctions. Here we report the experimental demonstration of super-oscillatory behavior of a single-quantum object, a photon. The super-oscillatory behavior is demonstrated by tight localization of the photon wavefunction after focusing with an appropriately designed slit mask to create an interference pattern with a sub-diffraction hotspot (~0.45 λ). Such quantum super-oscillation can be used for low-intensity far-field super-resolution imaging techniques even down to single-photon counting regime, which would be of interest to quantum physics and non-invasive and label-free biological studies.
1-6
Yuan, Guanghui
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Vezzoli, Stefano
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Altuzarra, Charles
678710bf-c35c-4d3f-99c2-668e65763390
Rogers, Edward T.F.
b92cc8ab-0d91-4b2e-b5c7-8a2f490a36a2
Couteau, Christophe
3f24b401-593d-4679-bc57-3ba6f7ca2022
Soci, Cesare
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Zheludev, Nikolai
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Yuan, Guanghui
d7af6f06-7da9-41ef-b7f9-cfe09e55fcaa
Vezzoli, Stefano
a72f5f1c-8add-4b1b-9dab-01dfb83180e6
Altuzarra, Charles
678710bf-c35c-4d3f-99c2-668e65763390
Rogers, Edward T.F.
b92cc8ab-0d91-4b2e-b5c7-8a2f490a36a2
Couteau, Christophe
3f24b401-593d-4679-bc57-3ba6f7ca2022
Soci, Cesare
6c86324e-2968-4e90-9436-4a92a4b26cec
Zheludev, Nikolai
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Yuan, Guanghui, Vezzoli, Stefano, Altuzarra, Charles, Rogers, Edward T.F., Couteau, Christophe, Soci, Cesare and Zheludev, Nikolai (2016) Quantum super-oscillation of a single photon. Light: Science & Applications, 5 (e16127), Spring Issue, 1-6. (doi:10.1038/lsa.2016.127).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Super-oscillation is a counterintuitive phenomenon describing localized fast variations of functions and fields that happen at frequencies higher than the highest Fourier component of their spectra. The physical implications of this effect have been studied in information theory and optics of classical fields, and have been used in super-resolution imaging. As a general phenomenon of wave dynamics, super-oscillations have also been predicted to exist in quantum wavefunctions. Here we report the experimental demonstration of super-oscillatory behavior of a single-quantum object, a photon. The super-oscillatory behavior is demonstrated by tight localization of the photon wavefunction after focusing with an appropriately designed slit mask to create an interference pattern with a sub-diffraction hotspot (~0.45 λ). Such quantum super-oscillation can be used for low-intensity far-field super-resolution imaging techniques even down to single-photon counting regime, which would be of interest to quantum physics and non-invasive and label-free biological studies.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 4 March 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 8 March 2016
Published date: 26 August 2016
Organisations: Optoelectronics Research Centre

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 399379
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/399379
PURE UUID: 83baa670-dd33-4afe-aef5-15fe47e46b26
ORCID for Nikolai Zheludev: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1013-6636

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 15 Aug 2016 12:35
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:45

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Contributors

Author: Guanghui Yuan
Author: Stefano Vezzoli
Author: Charles Altuzarra
Author: Edward T.F. Rogers
Author: Christophe Couteau
Author: Cesare Soci

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