Engineering-limited quantum advantage: a cross-platform review of squeezed light from precision metrology to biomedical imaging

IF 4 3区工程技术 Q2 ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC

Optical and Quantum Electronics Pub Date : 2026-09-15 DOI:10.1007/s11082-026-09084-9

Tariq Shamim Khwaja, Hyunmin Kim

{"title":"Engineering-limited quantum advantage: a cross-platform review of squeezed light from precision metrology to biomedical imaging","authors":"Tariq Shamim Khwaja, Hyunmin Kim","doi":"10.1007/s11082-026-09084-9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The generation of squeezed states of light has evolved from a foundational quantum optics experiment into a critical enabling technology for precision measurement across vastly different physical platforms. By redistributing quantum uncertainty between conjugate quadratures, squeezed light enables measurements beyond the standard quantum limit (SQL), offering tangible advantages in gravitational wave detection, atomic systems, and quantum-enhanced imaging. This review traces the technological and conceptual evolution of squeezed light generation across these domains, highlighting the distinct physical constraints and the solutions that have arisen in each implementation. While the nonlinear mechanisms—four-wave mixing in atomic vapors and parametric down-conversion in <span>\\(\\chi ^{(2)}\\)</span> crystals—differ in detail, a unifying theme emerges: the ultimate performance of squeezed light systems is not limited by the nonlinear process itself, but by engineering constraints such as optical loss, phase instability, backscatter, and most critically, spatial mode matching. Through an examination of developments in gravitational wave observatories, atomic vapor systems, and biomedical quantum imaging, we identify common technical bottlenecks that determine real-world quantum advantage. We argue that future advances in squeezed light performance will rely less on stronger nonlinearities and more on precision optical engineering, stability control, and system-level integration.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":720,"journal":{"name":"Optical and Quantum Electronics","volume":"58 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0000,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Optical and Quantum Electronics","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11082-026-09084-9","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The generation of squeezed states of light has evolved from a foundational quantum optics experiment into a critical enabling technology for precision measurement across vastly different physical platforms. By redistributing quantum uncertainty between conjugate quadratures, squeezed light enables measurements beyond the standard quantum limit (SQL), offering tangible advantages in gravitational wave detection, atomic systems, and quantum-enhanced imaging. This review traces the technological and conceptual evolution of squeezed light generation across these domains, highlighting the distinct physical constraints and the solutions that have arisen in each implementation. While the nonlinear mechanisms—four-wave mixing in atomic vapors and parametric down-conversion in \(\chi ^{(2)}\) crystals—differ in detail, a unifying theme emerges: the ultimate performance of squeezed light systems is not limited by the nonlinear process itself, but by engineering constraints such as optical loss, phase instability, backscatter, and most critically, spatial mode matching. Through an examination of developments in gravitational wave observatories, atomic vapor systems, and biomedical quantum imaging, we identify common technical bottlenecks that determine real-world quantum advantage. We argue that future advances in squeezed light performance will rely less on stronger nonlinearities and more on precision optical engineering, stability control, and system-level integration.

查看原文本刊更多论文

工程有限的量子优势：从精密计量到生物医学成像的压缩光的跨平台回顾

光的压缩态的产生已经从一项基础量子光学实验发展成为一项关键的使能技术，可以在不同的物理平台上进行精确测量。通过在共轭正交之间重新分配量子不确定性，压缩光可以实现超越标准量子极限（SQL）的测量，在引力波探测、原子系统和量子增强成像方面提供切实的优势。这篇综述追溯了这些领域中压缩光产生的技术和概念演变，突出了不同的物理限制和在每个实施中出现的解决方案。虽然非线性机制（原子蒸汽中的四波混合和\(\chi ^{(2)}\)晶体中的参数下转换）在细节上有所不同，但一个统一的主题出现了：压缩光系统的最终性能不受非线性过程本身的限制，而是受光学损耗、相位不稳定性、后向散射以及最关键的空间模式匹配等工程限制。通过对引力波天文台、原子蒸汽系统和生物医学量子成像发展的研究，我们确定了决定现实世界量子优势的常见技术瓶颈。我们认为，压缩光性能的未来发展将更少地依赖于更强的非线性，而更多地依赖于精密光学工程、稳定性控制和系统级集成。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Optical and Quantum Electronics 工程技术-工程：电子与电气

CiteScore

4.60

自引率

20.00%

发文量

810

审稿时长

3.8 months

期刊介绍： Optical and Quantum Electronics provides an international forum for the publication of original research papers, tutorial reviews and letters in such fields as optical physics, optical engineering and optoelectronics. Special issues are published on topics of current interest. Optical and Quantum Electronics is published monthly. It is concerned with the technology and physics of optical systems, components and devices, i.e., with topics such as: optical fibres; semiconductor lasers and LEDs; light detection and imaging devices; nanophotonics; photonic integration and optoelectronic integrated circuits; silicon photonics; displays; optical communications from devices to systems; materials for photonics (e.g. semiconductors, glasses, graphene); the physics and simulation of optical devices and systems; nanotechnologies in photonics (including engineered nano-structures such as photonic crystals, sub-wavelength photonic structures, metamaterials, and plasmonics); advanced quantum and optoelectronic applications (e.g. quantum computing, memory and communications, quantum sensing and quantum dots); photonic sensors and bio-sensors; Terahertz phenomena; non-linear optics and ultrafast phenomena; green photonics.