Quantum super-oscillation of a single photon
File(s)lsa2016127.pdf (2.03 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal 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.
Date Issued
2016-08-26
Date Acceptance
2016-03-04
Citation
Light: Science and Applications, 2016, 5
ISSN
2047-7538
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Journal / Book Title
Light: Science and Applications
Volume
5
Copyright Statement
© 2016 CIOMP. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000385428300003&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Optics
energy backflow
single-photon wavefunction
super-oscillation
super-resolution
DIFFRACTION LIMIT
EVANESCENT WAVES
SUPEROSCILLATIONS
LENS
SUPERRESOLUTION
SINGULARITIES
MICROSCOPE
PHASE
LIGHT
FIELD
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN e16127