Quantum enhanced mechanical rotation sensing using wavefront photonic gears

Abstract: Quantum metrology leverages quantum correlations for enhanced parameter estimation. Recently, structured light enabled increased resolution and sensitivity in quantum metrology systems. However, lossy and complex setups impacting photon flux, hinder true quantum advantage while using high dimensional structured light. We introduce a straightforward mechanical rotation quantum sensing mechanism, employing high-dimensional structured light and a compact high-flux (45,000 coincidence counts per second) N00N state source with N=2. The system utilizes two opposite spiral phase plates with topological charge of up to l=16 that convert mechanical rotation into wavefront phase shifts, and exhibit a 16-fold enhanced super-resolution and 25-fold enhanced sensitivity between different topological charges, while retaining the acquisition times and with negligible change in coincidence count. Furthermore, the high photon flux enables to detect mechanical angular acceleration in real-time. Our approach paves the way for highly sensitive quantum measurements, applicable to various interferometric schemes.