• Photonics Research
  • Vol. 13, Issue 4, 865 (2025)
Luigi Santamaria1,*, Fabrizio Sgobba1, Deborah Pallotti1, and Cosmo Lupo2,3
Author Affiliations
  • 1Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Matera Space Center, Contrada Terlecchia snc., 75100 Matera, Italy
  • 2Dipartimento Interateneo di Fisica, Politecnico & Università di Bari, 70126 Bari, Italy
  • 3INFN, Sezione di Bari, 70126 Bari, Italy
  • show less
    DOI: 10.1364/PRJ.544197 Cite this Article Set citation alerts
    Luigi Santamaria, Fabrizio Sgobba, Deborah Pallotti, Cosmo Lupo, "Single-photon super-resolved spectroscopy from spatial-mode demultiplexing," Photonics Res. 13, 865 (2025) Copy Citation Text show less

    Abstract

    We demonstrate the spectroscopy of incoherent light with subdiffraction resolution. In a proof-of-principle experiment, we analyze the spectrum of a pair of incoherent pointlike sources whose separation is below the diffraction limit. The two sources mimic a planetary system, with a brighter source for the star and a dimmer one for the planet. Acquiring spectral information about the secondary source is difficult because the two images have a substantial overlap. This limitation is solved by leveraging a structured measurement based on spatial-mode demultiplexing, where light is first sorted in its Hermite–Gaussian components in the transverse field then measured by photon detection. This allows us to effectively decouple the photons coming from the two sources. An application is suggested to enhance the exoplanets’ atmosphere spectroscopy. A number of experiments of super-resolution imaging based on spatial demultiplexing have been conducted in the past few years, with promising results. Here, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, we extend this concept to the domain of spectroscopy.
    |1x,λ=ax,λ|0,

    View in Article

    |Tx,λ=dyT(yx)by,λ|0,

    View in Article

    ρ=x,λp(x,λ)|Tx,λTx,λ|.

    View in Article

    ρ=(1ϵ)λfs(λ)|Txs,λTxs,λ|+ϵλfp(λ)|Txp,λTxp,λ|.

    View in Article

    T(yx)=Ne(yx)24σ2,

    View in Article

    pDD(y,λ)=(1ϵ)fs(λ)|1y,λ|Txs,λ|2+ϵfp(λ)|1y,λ|Txp,λ|2

    View in Article

    =(1ϵ)fs(λ)N2e(yxs)2/2σ2+ϵfp(λ)N2e(yxp)2/2σ2.

    View in Article

    pSPADE(u,λ)=(1ϵ)fs(λ)|Ψu|Txs,λ|2+ϵfp(λ)|Ψu|Txp,λ|2.

    View in Article

    |Ψu=dyΨu(y)by,λ|0,

    View in Article

    Ψu(y)=HGu(y)=N2uu!ey24σ2Hu(y2σ),

    View in Article

    Σij=E[fp(λi)fp(λj)]E[fp(λi)]E[fp(λj)],

    View in Article

    Σ1nF1,

    View in Article

    Fij=xp(x)logp(x)fp(λi)logp(x)fp(λj).

    View in Article

    logpDD(y,λ)fp(λi)=δλ,λiϵN2e(yxp)2/2σ2,

    View in Article

    FjjDD=ypDD(y,λj)(1pDD(y,λj)pDD(y,λj)fp(λj))2.

    View in Article

    FjjDD=ypDD(y,λj)(ϵN2e(yxp)2/2σ2pDD(y,λj))2

    View in Article

    =ypDD(y,λj)(ϵe(yxp)2/2σ2(1ϵ)fs(λj)e(yxs)2/2σ2+ϵfp(λj)e(yxp)2/2σ2)2

    View in Article

    =yϵ2e(yxp)2/σ2(1ϵ)fs(λj)e(yxs)2/2σ2+ϵfp(λj)e(yxp)2/2σ2.

    View in Article

    FDD(λ)(ϵ(1ϵ)fs(λ)e(xpxs)2/2σ2+ϵfp(λ))2,

    View in Article

    e(xpxs)2/2σ2ϵ1ϵfp(λ)fs(λ).

    View in Article

    FDD(λ)ϵ2(1ϵ)fs(λ)e(xpxs)2/2σ2+ϵfp(λ)ϵfp(λ).

    View in Article

    FHG(λ)=up(u,λ)(1p(u,λ)p(u,λ)fp(λ))2

    View in Article

    =up(u,λ)(ϵ|Ψu|Txp,λ|2(1ϵ)fs(λ)|Ψu|Txs,λ|2+ϵfp(λ)|Ψu|Txp,λ|2)2.

    View in Article

    FHG(λ)p(0,λ)(ϵ|Ψ0|Txp,λ|2(1ϵ)fs(λ)|Ψ0|Txs,λ|2+ϵfp(λ)|Ψ0|Txp,λ|2)2+p(1,λ)(ϵ|Ψ1|Txp,λ|2(1ϵ)fs(λ)|Ψ1|Txs,λ|2+ϵfp(λ)|Ψ1|Txp,λ|2)2

    View in Article

    ϵ2|Ψ0|Txp,λ|4(1ϵ)fs(λ)|Ψ0|Txs,λ|2+ϵfp(λ)|Ψ0|Txp,λ|2+ϵ|Ψ1|Txp,λ|2fp(λ)

    View in Article

    ϵ|Ψ1|Txp,λ|2fp(λ).

    View in Article

    S=λp(0,λ)p(1,λ).

    View in Article

    Σ1nQ1,

    View in Article

    Q(λ)=ϵ1ϵ1wλfp(λ),

    View in Article

    C0N(λ)=C0(λ)λC0(λ)2,

    View in Article

    C1N(λ)=C1(λ)λC1(λ)2,

    View in Article

    NS=1520  nm1569  nmNS(λ)dλ148,000

    View in Article

    SP=λC0N(λ)C1N(λ).

    View in Article

    ddp(λ)=I1fs(λ)NA(1ϵ)+I2fp(λ)NAϵ,

    View in Article

    dds(λ)=I3fs(λ)NA(1ϵ)+I4fp(λ)NAϵ,

    View in Article

    I1=w0w0dy1w0daw0w0da+w0Gs(y1,y2)dy2,

    View in Article

    I2=w0w0dy1w0daw0w0da+w0Gp(y1,y2)dy2,

    View in Article

    I3=w0w0dy1w0+w0Gs(y1,y2)dy2,

    View in Article

    I4=w0w0dy1w0+w0Gp(y1,y2)dy2,

    View in Article

    Gs(y1,y2)=12πw02ey12+y222w02,

    View in Article

    Gp(y1,y2)=12πw02ey12+(y2daw0)22w02.

    View in Article

    DDp(λ):=ddp(λ)λddp(λ)2,

    View in Article

    DDs(λ):=dds(λ)λdds(λ)2.

    View in Article

    Luigi Santamaria, Fabrizio Sgobba, Deborah Pallotti, Cosmo Lupo, "Single-photon super-resolved spectroscopy from spatial-mode demultiplexing," Photonics Res. 13, 865 (2025)
    Download Citation