Quantum leap for imaging could advance radar tech

A new imaging method which exploits the unique properties of quantum-entangled photons to reveal hidden information could help move forward the developing field of quantum radar. Physicists from the University of Glasgow's Optics Group describe in a paper published today in Science Advances how they used a technique known as quantum illumination to image through noise. Light is comprised of photons and the method in which an image is captured classically is to use all of the photons detected on the camera to form an image. When enough background noise is added to the image, either through natural phenomena or by a deliberate attempt to obscure the image from an observer, it can become impossible to separate the 'true' image from the noise. Using quantum illumination the quantum correlations between entangled photons may be used to allow an observer to preferentially filter out false information and noise from an image, allowing the 'true' image to be revealed. One potential application for the process is quantum radar, which would use quantum light to make it impossible for objects to be obscured from radar detection by spoofing a signal - a valuable advance for both military and civilian operations. The University of Glasgow research team's newly-developed system aims to simulate a situation where a 'true' image must be separated from a 'spoof' image.