- Open Access
Quantum-enhanced phase sensing via spectral noise reduction
Phys. Rev. Research 8, 033354 – Published 23 September, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/27hr-smgc
Abstract
We report a direct demonstration of quantum-enhanced sensing in the Fourier domain by comparing single- and two-photon interference in a fiber-based interferometer under strictly identical noise conditions. The simultaneous acquisition of both signals provides a common-mode reference that enables a fair and unambiguous benchmark of quantum advantage. Spectral analysis of the interferometric outputs reveals that quantum correlations do not increase the amplitude of the modulation peak, but instead lower the associated noise floor, resulting in the expected 3 dB improvement in signal-to-noise ratio. This enhancement persists in the sub-shot-noise regime, where the classical signal becomes indistinguishable from the spectral background while the two-photon contribution remains resolvable. These observations establish quantum supersensitivity in the Fourier domain as an operational and broadly applicable resource for precision interferometric sensing.
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Article Text
References (31)
- P. Fan, W. Yan, P. Lu, W. Zhang, W. Zhang, X. Fu, and J. Zhang, High sensitivity fiber-optic Michelson interferometric low-frequency acoustic sensor based on a gold diaphragm, Opt. Express 28, 25238 (2020).
- X. Zhu, A. Sun, Y. Pan, H. Zhuang, W. Liu, J. Cao, G. Zhang, Y. Yang, Z. Liang, Y. Shi, and W. Wu, An acoustic sensor based on balloon-shaped microfiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer, Opt. Laser Technol. 164, 109447 (2023).
- B. Liao, T. Li, T. Huang, G. Wang, J. Chen, Z. Li, Y. Cao, J. Zhang, J. Li, and X. Feng, High-speed organic gas sensor using a microfiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer, Opt. Express 33, 18728 (2025).
- Y. Koyamada, M. Imahama, K. Kubota, and K. Hogari, Fiber-optic distributed strain and temperature sensing with very high measurand resolution over long range using coherent OTDR, J. Lightwave Technol. 27, 1142 (2009).
- L. He, A. Zhang, H. Yan, L. Ma, X. Wei, N. Liao, W. Wang, and H. Hou, Self-correlation algorithm in optical frequency domain for cavity length interrogation of fiber-optic Fabry-Perot sensors, Optik 225, 165822 (2021).
- Y. Yang, Y. Wang, and K. Chen, Wideband fiber-optic Fabry–Perot acoustic sensing scheme using high-speed absolute cavity length demodulation, Opt. Express 29, 6768 (2021).
- S. Deepa and B. Das, Interrogation techniques for π-phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating sensor: A review, Sens. Actuators A 315, 112215 (2020).
- V. Thiel, A. Davis, K. Sun, P. D’Ornellas, X. Jin, and B. Smith, Single-photon characterization by two-photon spectral interferometry, Opt. Express 28, 19315 (2020).
- R. Jin, R. Shimizu, T. Ono, M. Fujiwara, G. Deng, Q. Zhou, M. Sasaki, and M. Takeoka, Spectrally resolved NOON state interference, arXiv:2104.01062.
- R. Shimizu, K. Edamatsu, and T. Itoh, Quantum diffraction and interference of spatially correlated photon pairs and its Fourier-optical analysis, Phys. Rev. A 74, 013801 (2006).
- R. Nold, C. Babin, J. Schmidt, T. Linkewitz, M. T. P. Zaballos, R. Stöhr, R. Kolesov, V. Vorobyov, D. M. Lukin, R. Boppert, S. Barz, J. Vučković, J. C. M. Gebhardt, F. Kaiser, and J. Wrachtrup, Quantum optical microphone in the audio band, PRX Quantum 3, 020358 (2022).
- S. Kolenderska, F. Vanholsbeeck, and P. Kolenderski, Fourier domain quantum optical coherence tomography, Opt. Express 28, 29576 (2020).
- S. Weimann, A. Perez-Leija, M. Lebugle, R. Keil, M. Tichy, M. Gräfe, R. Heilmann, S. Nolte, H. Moya-Cessa, G. Weihs, D. Christodoulides, and A. Szameit, Implementation of quantum and classical discrete fractional Fourier transforms, Nat. Commun. 7, 11027 (2016).
- B. Niewelt, M. Jastrzebski, S. Kurzyna, J. Nowosielski, W. Wasilewski, M. Mazelanik, and M. Parniak, Experimental implementation of the optical fractional Fourier transform in the time-frequency domain, Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 240801 (2023).
- S. Hegde, D. Durden, L. Ajayakumar, R. Sivakumar, and M. Backlund, Quantum sensing in the fractional Fourier domain, Phys. Rev. Appl. 23, 024035 (2025).
- V. Giovannetti, S. Lloyd, and L. Maccone, Advances in quantum metrology, Nat. Photon. 5, 222 (2011).
- L. Pezzé, A. Smerzi, M. Oberthaler, R. Schmied, and P. Treutlein, Quantum metrology with nonclassical states of atomic ensembles, Rev. Mod. Phys. 90, 035005 (2018).
- J. Huang, M. Zhuang, and C. Lee, Entanglement-enhanced quantum metrology: From standard quantum limit to Heisenberg limit, Appl. Phys. Rev. 11, 031302 (2024).
- V. Montenegro, C. Mukhopadhyay, R. Yousefjani, S. Sarkar, U. Mishra, M. Paris, and A. Bayat, Quantum metrology and sensing with many-body systems, Phys. Rep. 1134, 1 (2025).
- J. Franson, Bell inequality for position and time, Phys. Rev. Lett. 62, 2205 (1989).
- V. Giovannetti, S. Lloyd, and L. Maccone, Quantum-enhanced measurements: Beating the standard quantum limit, Science 306, 1330 (2004).
- J. Dowling, Quantum optical metrology—The lowdown on high-NOON states, Contemp. Phys. 49, 125 (2008).
- M. Taylor, J. Janousek, V. Daria, J. Knittel, B. Hage, H. Bachor, and W. Bowen, Biological measurement beyond the quantum limit, Nat. Photon. 7, 229 (2013).
- F. Wolfgramm, A. Ceré, F. Beduini, A. Predojević, and M. Mitchell, Squeezed-light optical magnetometry, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 053601 (2010).
- A. Crespi, M. Lobino, J. Matthews, A. Politi, A. Bassi, and R. Osellame, Measuring protein concentration with entangled photons, Appl. Phys. Lett. 100, 233704 (2012).
- B. Abbott, Characterization of transient noise in advanced LIGO relevant to gravitational wave signal GW150914, Class. Quantum Grav. 33, 134001 (2016).
- A. Teixeira, R. Ferreira, C. Leitao, H. Silva, and J. Pinto, Distributed acoustic sensing using coherent Rayleigh scattering, J. Lightwave Technol. 32, 1510 (2014).
- M. Collett and C. Gardiner, Squeezing of intracavity and traveling-wave light fields produced in parametric amplification, Phys. Rev. A 30, 1386 (1984).
- A. Clerk, M. Devoret, S. Girvin, F. Marquardt, and R. Schoelkopf, Introduction to quantum noise, measurement, and amplification, Rev. Mod. Phys. 82, 1155 (2010).
- B. Gorshkov, K. Yüksel, A. Fotiadi, M. Wuilpart, D. Korobko, A. Zhirnov, K. Stepanov, A. Turov, Y. Konstantinov, and I. Lobach, Scientific applications of distributed acoustic sensing: State-of-the-art review and perspective, Sensors 22, 1033 (2022).
- M. Ghazali, H. Mohamad, M. Nasir, A. Hamzah, M. Abdullah, N. Aziz, P. Thansirichaisree, and M. Zan, State-of-the-art application and challenges of optical fibre distributed acoustic sensing in civil engineering, Opt. Fiber Technol. 87, 103911 (2024) .