Quantum nanophotonic and nanoplasmonic sensing: towards quantum optical bioscience laboratories on chip

Abstract

Quantum-enhanced sensing and metrology pave the way for promising routes to fulfil the present day fundamental and technological demands for integrated chips which surpass the classical functional and measurement limits. The most precise measurements of optical properties such as phase or intensity require quantum optical measurement schemes. These non-classical measurements exploit phenomena such as entanglement and squeezing of optical probe states. They are also subject to lower detection limits as compared to classical photodetection schemes. Biosensing with non-classical light sources of entangled photons or squeezed light holds the key for realizing quantum optical bioscience laboratories which could be integrated on chip. Single-molecule sensing with such non-classical sources of light would be a forerunner to attaining the smallest uncertainty and the highest information per photon number. This demands an integrated non-classical sensing approach which would combine the subtle non-deterministic measurement techniques of quantum optics with the device-level integration capabilities attained through nanophotonics as well as nanoplasmonics. In this back drop, we review the underlining principles in quantum sensing, the quantum optical probes and protocols as well as state-of-the-art building blocks in quantum optical sensing. We further explore the recent developments in quantum photonic/plasmonic sensing and imaging together with the potential of combining them with burgeoning field of coupled cavity integrated optoplasmonic biosensing platforms.

Hydrodynamic manipulation of nano-objects by optically induced thermo-osmotic flows

“…Summarizing, we have demonstrated that thermo-hydrodynamic boundary flows can manipulate nano-objects with unprecedented flexibility in a very simple sample geometry. These flows are the key for future thermo-optofluidic implementations with an extensive range of applications in the fields of (i) nanoparticle sorting and separation; (ii) assembly of nanophotonic circuits 47 and plasmonic quantum sensors 4 , 5 ; (iii) biotechnology on-chip laboratories 48 and (iv) manufacturing of nanomaterials 4 , 6 and functional nanosurfaces 49 , 50 . We have substantiated our experimental findings of thermo-osmotic flow-assisted trapping with a quantitative theoretical description.…”

Active and Quantum Integrated Photonic Elements by Ion Exchange in Glass

“…The use of quantum light states in integrated optical devices allows to develop different on-chip applications in quantum optical communications and in other fields such as quantum photonic simulations [196] and quantum photonic sensing [218]. Rigorous theories of linear and nonlinear quantum spatial propagation states in integrated waveguides can be used [219][220][221][222], which allows us to study and design linear and nonlinear quantum integrated optical elements.…”

Noise limits on two-photon interferometric sensing

“…Generally we expect a large Fisher information when probabilities change most quickly with respect to the parameter of interest, while it vanishes at the extrema of the probabilities as there is no local information at these points; Eq. (26) shows that the Fisher information must vanish whenever the derivative of all probabilities is zero.…”