Optical sensors have applications in a range of settings, from measuring mechanical vibrations in manufacturing processes to biometrics in security devices and the detection of proteins and viruses in biomedical research. Many sensing approaches exist and plasmonic systems in particular have been studied extensively due to their ability to confine light below the diffraction limit, which greatly enhances their sensitivity compared to conventional approaches. Recently, various quantum techniques have been discovered that can outperform classical sensing ones and provide sensitivity beyond the shot-noise limit. The use of these quantum techniques in plasmonics for improving sensing performance is currently being explored. We study the performance of a plasmonic sensor that exploits the quantum nature of light and its highly confined field. We consider specialized quantum states and by comparison we show how each can provide improved sensitivity beyond the shot-noise limit.

Date Published: 3 September 2019
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 11091, Quantum Nanophotonic Materials, Devices, and Systems 2019, 110910J (3 September 2019); doi: 10.1117/12.2529729

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 11091:
Quantum Nanophotonic Materials, Devices, and Systems 2019
Cesare Soci; Matthew T. Sheldon; Mario Agio, Editor(s)