Quantum imaging technologies using single-photon detector arrays (Conference Presentation)

Abstract

Technology at the quantum limit promises significant advances in computing, communication, sensing and metrology, and imaging.    The UK and many other countries around the world have recently provided significant investment in the development and realisation of such quantum technologies.  In this talk, I will highlight recent activities in applied and fundamental quantum science, specifically focussing on advances in imaging, and metrology.    Much of our work relies on the detection of single photons via single-photons detectors, either in single-point or array formats. Single-photon sensitive detector (SPAD) arrays offer unprecedented sensitivity to light and picosecond temporal resolution, with the main advantage that they provide instantaneous data across their many pixels. I will discuss recent measurements that demonstrate sub-centimeter depth measurements with a visible CMOS SPAD sensor at long ranges. The system is based on a visible pulsed illumination system at 670 nm and a 320 by 240 pixel SPAD array sensor. The camera operates in a gated detection mode, and depth information is gained by taking multiple images at different gate delays. After processing, we are able to achieve sub-centimeter resolution in all three spatial dimensions at a distance of 150 meters. This work demonstrates the capability of such sensors at measuring depth at long distances and illustrates the potential for extremely high resolution imaging at distance.