Quantum Imaging beyond the Diffraction Limit by Optical Centroid Measurements

Abstract

I propose a quantum imaging method that can beat the Rayleigh-Abbe diffraction limit and achieve de Broglie resolution without requiring a multiphoton absorber as the detector. Using the same non-classical states of light as those for quantum lithography, the proposed method requires only intensity measurements, followed by image post-processing, to produce the same complex image patterns as those in quantum lithography. The method is expected to be experimentally realizable using current technology.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; v2: accepted by PRL, see also the accompanying Viewpoint commentary by Anisimov and Dowling [Physics 2, 52 (2009), http://physics.aps.org/articles/v2/52