Quantum optical coherence tomography of a biological sample

A number of nonclassical (quantum) sources of light have come to the fore in recent years [1], but few practical applications have emerged. One such application is quantum optical coherence tomography (QOCT) [2, 3], a fourth-order interferometric optical-sectioning scheme that makes use of frequency-entangled photon pairs generated via spontaneous optical parametric down-conversion (SPDC). A particular merit of QOCT is that it is inherently immune to group-velocity dispersion (GVD) by virtue of the frequency entanglement of the photon pairs [4]-[6]. Conventional optical coherence tomography (OCT) [7], in contrast, is a second-order interferometric scheme that provides high-resolution axial sectioning by employing ultra-broadband light. Unfortunately, however, this leads to GVD, which degrades resolution. Here we present the first experimental QOCT images of a biological sample: an onion-skin tissue coated with gold nanoparticles. Three-dimensional images are displayed in the form of transverse sections at different depths. The results reveal that QOCT is a viable biological imaging technique.

[1]  Aaas News,et al.  Book Reviews , 1893, Buffalo Medical and Surgical Journal.

[2]  B. Krauskopf,et al.  Proc of SPIE , 2003 .

[3]  F. Marsili,et al.  High efficiency NbN nanowire superconducting single photon detectors fabricated on MgO substrates from a low temperature process. , 2007, Optics express.

[4]  Robert L. Byer,et al.  Observation of tunable optical parametric fluorescence. , 1967 .

[5]  Pavel Ginzburg,et al.  Observation of two-photon emission from semiconductors , 2008 .

[6]  M. Teich,et al.  Squeezed and Antibunched Light , 1990 .

[7]  Bahaa E. A. Saleh,et al.  Noise in Classical and Quantum Photon-Correlation Imaging , 2008 .

[8]  Kevin Barraclough,et al.  I and i , 2001, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[9]  Hong,et al.  Measurement of subpicosecond time intervals between two photons by interference. , 1987, Physical review letters.

[10]  M C TeichT.  Squeezed states of light , 1989 .

[11]  Phase-conjugate optical coherence tomography , 2006, 2009 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and 2009 Conference on Quantum electronics and Laser Science Conference.

[12]  Ruikang K. Wang,et al.  Theory, developments and applications of optical coherence tomography , 2005 .

[13]  Teich,et al.  Nonlocal cancellation of dispersive broadening in Mach-Zehnder interferometers. , 1995, Physical review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics.

[14]  Alexander Sergienko,et al.  Dispersion-cancelled and dispersion-sensitive quantum optical coherence tomography. , 2004, Optics express.

[15]  Adolf Friedrich Fercher,et al.  Ophthalmic Laser Interferometry , 1986, Other Conferences.

[16]  K. Takada,et al.  New measurement system for fault location in optical waveguide devices based on an interferometric technique. , 1987, Applied optics.

[17]  M. Teich,et al.  Quantum-optical coherence tomography with dispersion cancellation , 2001, quant-ph/0111140.

[18]  Bahaa E. A. Saleh,et al.  Fundamentals of Photonics, Second Edition , 2008 .

[19]  J. Lavoie,et al.  Quantum-inspired interferometry with chirped laser pulses , 2008, 0804.4022.

[20]  L. Mandel,et al.  Optical Coherence and Quantum Optics , 1995 .

[21]  M. Brezinski.  Optical Coherence Tomography: Principles and Applications , 2006 .

[22]  J. Fujimoto,et al.  Optical Coherence Tomography , 1991 .

[23]  Andrew G. Glen,et al.  APPL , 2001 .

[24]  D. Walls.  Squeezed states of light , 1983, Nature.

[25]  A. Fercher,et al.  Optical coherence tomography - principles and applications , 2003 .

[26]  K. Resch,et al.  Classical dispersion-cancellation interferometry. , 2007, Optics express.

[27]  Silvia Carrasco,et al.  Ultrabroadband biphotons generated via chirped quasi-phase-matched optical parametric down-conversion. , 2008, Physical review letters.

[28]  Aephraim M. Steinberg,et al.  Dispersion cancellation in a measurement of the single-photon propagation velocity in glass. , 1992, Physical review letters.

[29]  Joseph M. Schmitt,et al.  Optical coherence tomography (OCT): a review , 1999 .

[30]  M. Teich,et al.  Demonstration of dispersion-canceled quantum-optical coherence tomography. , 2003, Physical review letters.

[31]  D. Magde,et al.  Study in Ammonium Dihydrogen Phosphate of Spontaneous Parametric Interaction Tunable from 4400 to 16 000 Å , 1967 .

[32]  Ari T. Friberg,et al.  Advances In Information Optics And Photonics , 2009 .

[33]  D. Davies,et al.  Optical coherence-domain reflectometry: a new optical evaluation technique. , 1987, Optics letters.

[34]  M. Teich,et al.  Squeezed state of light , 1989 .

[35]  K. Suslick,et al.  Engineered microsphere contrast agents for optical coherence tomography. , 2003, Optics letters.

[36]  A. Fercher,et al.  Measurement of intraocular distances by backscattering spectral interferometry , 1995 .

[37]  I. Walmsley,et al.  Blind dispersion compensation for optical coherence tomography , 2004, Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, 2004. (CLEO)..