South African Researchers Make Breakthrough Towards Developing 3D Quantum Camera
A team of researchers from South Africa has made a significant breakthrough towards developing a 3D quantum camera by improving the principle of “Ghost imaging.” The team, which is from the School of Physics at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), has successfully created images of an object that stays completely in the dark.
According to the announcement, the team used two “entangled” photons to “see” an object in the dark. Entanglement is a phenomenon where two particles, such as photons, share the same quantum properties, and, where if the properties of one of the particles are changed, the properties of its “entangled” particles are affected in the same way.
The entangled photons are created by sending light through a non-linear crystal such that one photon is destroyed to create two entangled ones. The two photons share physical properties, such as wavelength, and one of the photons is then sent through a medium to a remote area, while the other one is kept close in order to monitor it.
“This is a major step towards developing a 3D quantum camera, which has the potential to revolutionize the field of imaging and provide new insights into the world around us,” said a spokesperson for the research team.
“We would send one of the entangled photons to the object that we want to look at in the dark, and by looking at the photon that stays with us, we can see the properties of the object in the dark,” says Bereneice Sephton, the lead author of the study.
The breakthrough by the Wits researchers builds on previous research in the field of Ghost imaging and could lead to the development of new imaging technologies with applications in fields such as medicine, manufacturing, and security.
“We are excited about the potential of this breakthrough to open up new possibilities in imaging and help us better understand the world around us. We are proud of the work that our team has done, and we look forward to the next steps in this exciting field,” said the spokesperson.
The announcement of the breakthrough by the Wits researchers has been well-received by the scientific community, which has praised the team’s innovative approach and the potential of the technology they are developing.
The research was funded by the National Research Foundation of South Africa, the Department of Science and Innovation.
