Quantum computing has long been hailed as the future of technology, promising unprecedented capabilities and applications. However, the widespread adoption and application of quantum imaging have been hindered by various challenges. In a groundbreaking new study, researchers at Caltech have introduced a novel technique, quantum imaging by coincidence from entanglement (ICE), which leverages spatially and polarization-entangled photon pairs to overcome these obstacles.

Quantum imaging offers a multitude of advantages over traditional imaging methods, capitalizing on quantum properties such as entanglement and superposition. The ICE technique developed by the Caltech team holds the potential to revolutionize quantum imaging across diverse fields, including biomedical imaging and remote space sensing.

One of the key features of the ICE technique is its ability to generate higher-resolution images of biological materials, including thicker samples, and to make precise measurements of materials exhibiting birefringent properties. Birefringence, a phenomenon displayed by specific materials, results in the splitting of light waves into two independent waves, each moving at different speeds and undergoing variable refraction.

Notably, birefringent properties are not confined to minerals but are also present in a range of biological components, such as collagen, cartilage, starch, and cellulose. By employing two polarizers positioned at right angles to each other and sandwiching a birefringent sample between them, the ICE technique can selectively block light waves of particular polarizations. However, the birefringent features of the sample cause polarization changes in the incoming light waves, enabling some light to pass through the polarizers and reach the detector.

The ICE setup involves the occasional formation of entangled photon pairs, wherein light is first passed through a polarizer and then through unique crystals of barium borate. While only one pair is produced for every million photons that travel through the crystals, the implications of this breakthrough are far-reaching and hold immense promise for the future of quantum imaging.