Subwavelength thickness characterization of curved dielectric films exploiting spatially structured entangled photons

Abstract

Precise determination of thin dielectric film optical properties is a critical issue for fiber optic sensor technologies. However, conventional methods for the optical characterization of these films not only are generally complex and tedious processes on curved surfaces but also require well-calibrated and overly sophisticated devices. We, on the other hand, propose a novel and practical quantum-based phase diffraction scheme to characterize the thickness of ultra-thin transparent dielectric films coated on an optical fiber beyond the classical diffraction limits in this paper. The approach is implemented by evaluating the effect of thickness variations on the highly visible two-photon diffraction pattern’s zero crossings and amplitudes. The mathematical model and numerical simulations contribute to a better understanding of how the spatially structured entangled photons improve thickness precision with the help of intensity correlations and a confocal aperture. To prove the impact of the proposed system, it is compared with the classical phase diffraction method in the literature via simulations. According to the results, the thickness of the transparent dielectric films can be accurately estimated below one-twentieth of the wavelength of interest.