Quantum sensors are often built on continuously variable systems, i.e., quantum systems characterized by continuous degrees of freedom such as position and momentum quadratures. The basic working mechanism typically relies on optical states of light, often involving quantum mechanical properties such as squeezing or two-mode entanglement. These states are sensitive to physical transformations that are detected by interferometric measurements.
In solid-state physics, a quantum sensor is a quantum device that responds to a stimulus. Usually this refers to a sensor, which has quantized energy levels, uses quantum coherence or entanglement to improve measurements beyond what can be done with classical sensors. There are four criteria for solid-state quantum sensors:
Quantum sensors have applications in a wide variety of fields including microscopy, positioning systems, communication technology, electric and magnetic field sensors, as well as geophysical areas of research such as mineral prospecting and seismology. Many measurement devices utilize quantum properties in order to probe measurements such as atomic clocks, superconducting quantum interference devices, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. With new technological advancements, individual quantum systems can be used as measurement devices, utilizing entanglement, superposition, interference and squeezing to enhance sensitivity and surpass performance of classical strategies.
For photonic systems, current areas of research consider feedback and adaptive protocols. This is an active area of research in discrimination and estimation of bosonic loss.
Quantum sensing also has the capability to overcome resolution limits, where current issues of vanishing distinguishability between two close frequencies can be overcome by making the projection noise vanish. The diminishing projection noise has direct applications in communication protocols and nano-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.
Other uses of entanglement
Li, Dong; Gard, Bryan T.; Gao, Yang; Yuan, Chun-Hua; Zhang, Weiping; Lee, Hwang; Dowling, Jonathan P. (December 19, 2016). "Phase sensitivity at the Heisenberg limit in an SU(1,1) interferometer via parity detection". Physical Review A. 94 (6): 063840. arXiv:1603.09019. Bibcode:2016PhRvA..94f3840L. doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.94.063840. S2CID 118404862. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Rademacher, Markus; Millen, James; Li, Ying Lia (October 1, 2020). "Quantum sensing with nanoparticles for gravimetry: when bigger is better". Advanced Optical Technologies. 9 (5): 227–239. arXiv:2005.14642. Bibcode:2020AdOT....9..227R. doi:10.1515/aot-2020-0019. ISSN 2192-8584. S2CID 219124060. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/aot-2020-0019/html
Pirandola, S; Bardhan, B. R.; Gehring, T.; Weedbrook, C.; Lloyd, S. (2018). "Advances in photonic quantum sensing". Nature Photonics. 12 (12): 724–733. arXiv:1811.01969. Bibcode:2018NaPho..12..724P. doi:10.1038/s41566-018-0301-6. S2CID 53626745. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Degen, C. L.; Reinhard, F.; Cappellaro, P. (2017). "Quantum sensing". Reviews of Modern Physics. 89 (3): 035002. arXiv:1611.02427. Bibcode:2017RvMP...89c5002D. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.89.035002. S2CID 2555443. /wiki/Paola_Cappellaro
Adesso, Gerardo; Ragy, Sammy; Lee, Antony R. (June 2014). "Continuous Variable Quantum Information: Gaussian States and Beyond". Open Systems & Information Dynamics. 21 (1n02): 1440001. arXiv:1401.4679. doi:10.1142/S1230161214400010. S2CID 15318256. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Gallego Torromé, Ricardo; Barzanjeh, Shabir (2023). "Advances in quantum radar and quantum LiDAR". Progress in Quantum Electronics. 93: 100497. arXiv:2310.07198. doi:10.1016/j.pquantelec.2023.100497. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Tan, Si-Hui; Erkmen, Baris I.; Giovannetti, Vittorio; Guha, Saikat; Lloyd, Seth; Maccone, Lorenzo; Pirandola, Stefano; Shapiro, Jeffrey H. (December 18, 2008). "Quantum Illumination with Gaussian States". Physical Review Letters. 101 (25): 253601. arXiv:0810.0534. Bibcode:2008PhRvL.101y3601T. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.253601. PMID 19113706. S2CID 26890855. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Shapiro, Jeffrey H; Lloyd, Seth (June 24, 2009). "Quantum illumination versus coherent-state target detection". New Journal of Physics. 11 (6): 063045. arXiv:0902.0986. Bibcode:2009NJPh...11f3045S. doi:10.1088/1367-2630/11/6/063045. S2CID 2396896. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Barzanjeh, Sh.; Abdi, M.; Milburn, G. J.; Tombesi, P.; Vitali, D. (September 28, 2012). "Reversible Optical-to-Microwave Quantum Interface". Physical Review Letters. 109 (13): 130503. arXiv:1110.6215. Bibcode:2012PhRvL.109m0503B. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.130503. PMID 23030075. S2CID 6470118. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Guha, Saikat; Erkmen, Baris I. (November 10, 2009). "Gaussian-state quantum-illumination receivers for target detection". Physical Review A. 80 (5): 052310. arXiv:0911.0950. Bibcode:2009PhRvA..80e2310G. doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.80.052310. S2CID 109058131. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Pirandola, S; Bardhan, B. R.; Gehring, T.; Weedbrook, C.; Lloyd, S. (2018). "Advances in photonic quantum sensing". Nature Photonics. 12 (12): 724–733. arXiv:1811.01969. Bibcode:2018NaPho..12..724P. doi:10.1038/s41566-018-0301-6. S2CID 53626745. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Adesso, Gerardo; Ragy, Sammy; Lee, Antony R. (June 2014). "Continuous Variable Quantum Information: Gaussian States and Beyond". Open Systems & Information Dynamics. 21 (1n02): 1440001. arXiv:1401.4679. doi:10.1142/S1230161214400010. S2CID 15318256. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Degen, C. L.; Reinhard, F.; Cappellaro, P. (2017). "Quantum sensing". Reviews of Modern Physics. 89 (3): 035002. arXiv:1611.02427. Bibcode:2017RvMP...89c5002D. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.89.035002. S2CID 2555443. /wiki/Paola_Cappellaro
Kustura, K.; Gonzalez-Ballestero, C.; De los Ríos Sommer, A.; Meyer, N.; Quidant, R.; Romero-Isart, O. (April 7, 2022). "Mechanical Squeezing via Unstable Dynamics in a Microcavity". Physical Review Letters. 128 (14): 143601. arXiv:2112.01144. Bibcode:2022PhRvL.128n3601K. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.143601. PMID 35476467. S2CID 244799128. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Degen, C. L.; Reinhard, F.; Cappellaro, P. (2017). "Quantum sensing". Reviews of Modern Physics. 89 (3): 035002. arXiv:1611.02427. Bibcode:2017RvMP...89c5002D. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.89.035002. S2CID 2555443. /wiki/Paola_Cappellaro
Brownnutt, M.; Kumph, M.; Rabl, P.; Blatt, R. (December 11, 2015). "Ion-trap measurements of electric-field noise near surfaces". Reviews of Modern Physics. 87 (4): 1419–1482. arXiv:1409.6572. Bibcode:2015RvMP...87.1419B. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.87.1419. S2CID 119008607. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Campbell, W (February 23, 2017). "Rotation sensing with trapped ions". Journal of Physics B. 50 (6): 064002. arXiv:1609.00659. Bibcode:2017JPhB...50f4002C. doi:10.1088/1361-6455/aa5a8f. S2CID 26952809. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Degen, C. L.; Reinhard, F.; Cappellaro, P. (2017). "Quantum sensing". Reviews of Modern Physics. 89 (3): 035002. arXiv:1611.02427. Bibcode:2017RvMP...89c5002D. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.89.035002. S2CID 2555443. /wiki/Paola_Cappellaro
Degen, C. L.; Reinhard, F.; Cappellaro, P. (2017). "Quantum sensing". Reviews of Modern Physics. 89 (3): 035002. arXiv:1611.02427. Bibcode:2017RvMP...89c5002D. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.89.035002. S2CID 2555443. /wiki/Paola_Cappellaro
Degen, C. L.; Reinhard, F.; Cappellaro, P. (2017). "Quantum sensing". Reviews of Modern Physics. 89 (3): 035002. arXiv:1611.02427. Bibcode:2017RvMP...89c5002D. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.89.035002. S2CID 2555443. /wiki/Paola_Cappellaro
Degen, C. L.; Reinhard, F.; Cappellaro, P. (2017). "Quantum sensing". Reviews of Modern Physics. 89 (3): 035002. arXiv:1611.02427. Bibcode:2017RvMP...89c5002D. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.89.035002. S2CID 2555443. /wiki/Paola_Cappellaro
Pezzè, Luca; Smerzi, Augusto; Oberthaler, Markus K.; Schmied, Roman; Treutlein, Philipp (September 5, 2018). "Quantum metrology with nonclassical states of atomic ensembles". Reviews of Modern Physics. 90 (3): 035005. arXiv:1609.01609. Bibcode:2018RvMP...90c5005P. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.90.035005. S2CID 119250709. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Campbell, Joe C. (January 2007). "Recent Advances in Telecommunications Avalanche Photodiodes". Journal of Lightwave Technology. 25 (1): 109–121. Bibcode:2007JLwT...25..109C. doi:10.1109/jlt.2006.888481. S2CID 1398387. https://zenodo.org/record/896867
Israel, Yonatan (2014). "Supersensitive Polarization Microscopy Using NOON States of Light". Physical Review Letters. 112 (10): 103604. Bibcode:2014PhRvL.112j3604I. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.103604. PMID 24679294. /wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)
Gallego Torromé, Ricardo; Barzanjeh, Shabir (2023). "Advances in quantum radar and quantum LiDAR". Progress in Quantum Electronics. 93: 100497. arXiv:2310.07198. doi:10.1016/j.pquantelec.2023.100497. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
DARPA Quantum Sensor Program. https://www.darpa.mil/sto/space/qsp.html
BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA) 07-22 Quantum Sensors https://www.fbo.gov/index?id=9bafd20629bf798e1b084fb2582a4b34
Zhuang, Quntao; Zhang, Zheshen; Shapiro, Jeffrey H. (October 16, 2017). "Entanglement-enhanced lidars for simultaneous range and velocity measurements". Physical Review A. 96 (4): 040304. arXiv:1705.06793. Bibcode:2017PhRvA..96d0304Z. doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.96.040304. S2CID 54955615. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Kelley M. Sayler (June 7, 2021). Defense Primer: Quantum Technology (PDF) (Report). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved July 22, 2021. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/IF11836.pdf
Laurenza, Riccardo; Lupo, Cosmo; Spedalieri, Gaetana; Braunstein, Samuel L.; Pirandola, Stefano (March 1, 2018). "Channel Simulation in Quantum Metrology". Quantum Measurements and Quantum Metrology. 5 (1): 1–12. arXiv:1712.06603. Bibcode:2018QMQM....5....1L. doi:10.1515/qmetro-2018-0001. S2CID 119001470. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Li, Dong; Gard, Bryan T.; Gao, Yang; Yuan, Chun-Hua; Zhang, Weiping; Lee, Hwang; Dowling, Jonathan P. (December 19, 2016). "Phase sensitivity at the Heisenberg limit in an SU(1,1) interferometer via parity detection". Physical Review A. 94 (6): 063840. arXiv:1603.09019. Bibcode:2016PhRvA..94f3840L. doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.94.063840. S2CID 118404862. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Barsotti, Lisa (2014). "Quantum Noise Reduction in the LIGO Gravitational Wave Interferometer with Squeezed States of Light". CLEO: Applications and Technology 2014. p. AW3P.4. doi:10.1364/CLEO_AT.2014.AW3P.4. ISBN 978-1-55752-999-2. S2CID 28876707. 978-1-55752-999-2
Yu, Haocun; McCuller, L.; Tse, M.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Barsotti, L.; Mavalvala, N. (July 2020). "Quantum correlations between light and the kilogram-mass mirrors of LIGO". Nature. 583 (7814): 43–47. arXiv:2002.01519. Bibcode:2020Natur.583...43Y. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2420-8. PMID 32612226. S2CID 211031944. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Pooser, Raphael C.; Lawrie, Benjamin (May 20, 2015). "Ultrasensitive measurement of microcantilever displacement below the shot-noise limit". Optica. 2 (5): 393. arXiv:1405.4767. Bibcode:2015Optic...2..393P. doi:10.1364/OPTICA.2.000393. S2CID 118422029. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Nair, Ranjith; Tsang, Mankei (November 4, 2016). "Far-Field Superresolution of Thermal Electromagnetic Sources at the Quantum Limit". Physical Review Letters. 117 (19): 190801. arXiv:1604.00937. Bibcode:2016PhRvL.117s0801N. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.190801. PMID 27858425. S2CID 25870660. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Tsang, Mankei; Nair, Ranjith; Lu, Xiao-Ming (August 29, 2016). "Quantum Theory of Superresolution for Two Incoherent Optical Point Sources". Physical Review X. 6 (3): 031033. arXiv:1511.00552. Bibcode:2016PhRvX...6c1033T. doi:10.1103/PhysRevX.6.031033. S2CID 32680254. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Maze, J. R.; Stanwix, P. L.; Hodges, J. S.; Hong, S.; Taylor, J. M.; Cappellaro, P.; Jiang, L.; Dutt, M. V. Gurudev; Togan, E.; Zibrov, A. S.; Yacoby, A. (October 2008). "Nanoscale magnetic sensing with an individual electronic spin in diamond". Nature. 455 (7213): 644–647. Bibcode:2008Natur.455..644M. doi:10.1038/nature07279. PMID 18833275. S2CID 136428582. /wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)
Kong, Xi; Stark, Alexander; Du, Jiangfeng; McGuinness, Liam P.; Jelezko, Fedor (August 6, 2015). "Towards Chemical Structure Resolution with Nanoscale Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy". Physical Review Applied. 4 (2): 024004. arXiv:1506.05882. Bibcode:2015PhRvP...4b4004K. doi:10.1103/PhysRevApplied.4.024004. S2CID 172297. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Bollinger, J. J .; Itano, Wayne M.; Wineland, D. J.; Heinzen, D. J. (December 1, 1996). "Optimal frequency measurements with maximally correlated states". Physical Review A. 54 (6): R4649 – R4652. Bibcode:1996PhRvA..54.4649B. doi:10.1103/physreva.54.r4649. PMID 9914139. /wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)
Marciniak, Christian D.; Feldker, Thomas; Pogorelov, Ivan; Kaubruegger, Raphael; Vasilyev, Denis V.; Van Bijnen, Rick; Schindler, Philipp; Zoller, Peter; Blatt, Rainer; Monz, Thomas (March 23, 2022). "Optimal metrology with programmable quantum sensors". Nature. 603 (7902): 604–609. arXiv:2107.01860. Bibcode:2022Natur.603..604M. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04435-4. PMID 35322252. S2CID 245837971. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Franke, Johannes; Muleady, Sean R.; Kaubruegger, Raphael; Kranzl, Florian; Blatt, Rainer; Rey, Ana Maria; Joshi, Manoj K.; Roos, Christian F. (August 30, 2023). "Quantum-enhanced sensing on optical transitions through finite-range interactions". Nature. 621 (7980): 740–745. arXiv:2303.10688. Bibcode:2023Natur.621..740F. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06472-z. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 37648868. S2CID 257632503. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06472-z
Auzinsh, M.; Budker, D.; Kimball, D. F.; Rochester, S. M.; Stalnaker, J. E.; Sushkov, A. O.; Yashchuk, V. V. (October 19, 2004). "Can a Quantum Nondemolition Measurement Improve the Sensitivity of an Atomic Magnetometer?". Physical Review Letters. 93 (17): 173002. arXiv:physics/0403097. Bibcode:2004PhRvL..93q3002A. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.93.173002. PMID 15525071. S2CID 31287682. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Guillaume, Alexandre; Dowling, Jonathan P. (April 27, 2006). "Heisenberg-limited measurements with superconducting circuits". Physical Review A. 73 (4): 040304(R). arXiv:quant-ph/0512144. Bibcode:2006PhRvA..73d0304G. doi:10.1103/physreva.73.040304. S2CID 33820154. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Lanzagorta, Marco (October 31, 2011). "Quantum Radar". Synthesis Lectures on Quantum Computing. 3 (1): 1–139. doi:10.2200/S00384ED1V01Y201110QMC005. S2CID 27569963. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
"Scientists demonstrate quantum radar prototype". phys.org. Retrieved June 12, 2020. https://phys.org/news/2020-05-scientists-quantum-radar-prototype.html
""Quantum radar" uses entangled photons to detect objects". New Atlas. May 12, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020. https://newatlas.com/physics/quantum-radar-entangled-photons/
Barzanjeh, S.; Pirandola, S.; Vitali, D.; Fink, J. M. (May 1, 2020). "Microwave quantum illumination using a digital receiver". Science Advances. 6 (19): eabb0451. arXiv:1908.03058. Bibcode:2020SciA....6..451B. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abb0451. PMC 7272231. PMID 32548249. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7272231
"Researchers build first modular quantum brain sensor, record signal". phys.org. Retrieved July 11, 2021. https://phys.org/news/2021-06-modular-quantum-brain-sensor.html
Coussens, Thomas; Abel, Christopher; Gialopsou, Aikaterini; Bason, Mark G.; James, Tim M.; Orucevic, Fedja; Kruger, Peter (June 10, 2021). "Modular optically-pumped magnetometer system". arXiv:2106.05877 [physics.atom-ph]. /wiki/ArXiv_(identifier)
Stray, Ben; Lamb, Andrew; Kaushik, Aisha; Vovrosh, Jamie; Rodgers, Anthony; Winch, Jonathan; Hayati, Farzad; Boddice, Daniel; Stabrawa, Artur; Niggebaum, Alexander; Langlois, Mehdi; Lien, Yu-Hung; Lellouch, Samuel; Roshanmanesh, Sanaz; Ridley, Kevin; de Villiers, Geoffrey; Brown, Gareth; Cross, Trevor; Tuckwell, George; Faramarzi, Asaad; Metje, Nicole; Bongs, Kai; Holynski, Michael (February 2022). "Quantum sensing for gravity cartography". Nature. 602 (7898): 590–594. Bibcode:2022Natur.602..590S. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04315-3. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 8866129. PMID 35197616. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8866129
"Quantum Gravity Sensor Breakthrough Paves Way for Groundbreaking Map of World Under Earth's Surface". SciTechDaily. February 27, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2022. https://scitechdaily.com/quantum-gravity-sensor-breakthrough-paves-way-for-groundbreaking-map-of-world-under-earth-surface/