Phase-quadrature quantum imaging with undetected photons

Opt Express. 2023 Jan 2;31(1):143-152. doi: 10.1364/OE.471837.

Abstract

Sensing with undetected photons allows access to spectral regions with simultaneous detection of photons of another region and is based on nonlinear interferometry. To obtain the full information of a sample, the corresponding interferogram has to be analyzed in terms of amplitude and phase, which has been realized so far by multiple measurements followed by phase variation. Here, we present a polarization-optics-based phase-quadrature implementation in a nonlinear interferometer for imaging with undetected photons in the infrared region. This allows us to obtain phase and visibility with a single image acquisition without the need of varying optical paths or phases, thus enabling the detection of dynamic processes. We demonstrate the usefulness of our method on a static phase mask opaque to the detected photons as well as on dynamic measurement tasks as the drying of an isopropanol film and the stretching of an adhesive tape.