Quantum-enhanced laser-Doppler vibrometer with 2.6 fm/√Hz sensitivity in the broadband demodulated signal

Quantum-enhanced laser-Doppler vibrometer with 2.6 fm/√Hz sensitivity in the broadband demodulated signal | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Quantum-enhanced laser-Doppler vibrometer with 2.6 fm/√Hz sensitivity in the broadband demodulated signal Christian Rembe, Mengwei Yu, Pascal Gewecke, Roman Schnabel This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8288663/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Advanced industrial applications in nanotechnology, MEMS, and semiconductor manufacturing demand laser-Doppler vibrometers with femtometer displacement sensitivity. Conventional heterodyne interferometers provide high linearity and accuracy for industrial measurements but are fundamentally limited by quantum shot noise, whose disruptive influence effectively decreases with increasing measured light power. Although laser safety regulations permit a laser power of up to 10mW for a 1550nm measuring beam, temperature-sensitive structures often require lower light power. Note that a laser power of 10mW focused on 10 µm^2 corresponds to an irradiance of 1GWm^(−2). Highest resolution needs to be achieved at low laser powers of the measurement beam, which presents a challenge for shot-noise-limited measurements. In this work, we present a new resolution record for the demodulated displacement signal of our squeezedlight- enhanced heterodyne laser-Doppler vibrometer. Our system achieved a displacement sensitivity of 2.6 fm/√Hz with only 0.36 mW of measurement power. Our results demonstrate improved performance beyond the shot noise limit without increasing optical power, approaching sub-fm precision in vibration measurements. Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical techniques/Imaging and sensing Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/Techniques and instrumentation Heterodyne laser Doppler vibrometer squeezed light synchronous sampling digital demodulation sub-shot-noise interferometer quantummetrology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8288663","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":559429982,"identity":"adb13087-78cd-4d8e-85f6-60dc2b103ce4","order_by":0,"name":"Christian Rembe","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABDUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACNgaGCgkQCQIWUJECBsYGvFrOgLQwgzgSQMwMFDEgoIWxDUQTq8W8vTvtwcd5FnJ8DPzHJBhqJOQNzp8/9uCHAYNsPw4tMmfObjecuU3CGOgwNgmGYxKGG24ksxv2GDAYz8RhjYRE7jZp3m0SiW1ALdJ/GyQYN9wA6uUxYEjccACHFvm326T/zpGoB2mRYGyQsN9w/jCb5B+glv24tEjwbpMGqkxgg2oBGp7MJg22BYdfJHhytxv2AL3QxsxsbAH0S/LMG8lm0jIGEsYzcNnCfnbbgx81dfLy7Y0PbzDU2Nj2nT/4TPJNhY1sPw7vIwAzmlmE1I+CUTAKRsEowAMAdy9L2/l3XNgAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0878-3727","institution":"Clausthal University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Christian","middleName":"","lastName":"Rembe","suffix":""},{"id":559429983,"identity":"60bb5fb9-bd7c-490d-8100-d46e57f955fe","order_by":1,"name":"Mengwei Yu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Clausthal University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mengwei","middleName":"","lastName":"Yu","suffix":""},{"id":559429984,"identity":"0040560e-ba47-4d72-836f-e550adf1d751","order_by":2,"name":"Pascal Gewecke","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institut für Quantenphysik, Universität Hamburg","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Pascal","middleName":"","lastName":"Gewecke","suffix":""},{"id":559429985,"identity":"9422552e-71d9-470d-80ae-7d7cf8bc7738","order_by":3,"name":"Roman Schnabel","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2896-4218","institution":"Universität Hamburg","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Roman","middleName":"","lastName":"Schnabel","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-12-05 14:30:11","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8288663/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8288663/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":102964714,"identity":"be86234c-874e-409f-b305-e233d557cdf7","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-19 04:23:31","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2426271,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"SQZLLDV4NP.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8288663/v1_covered_ae29830a-b2c2-4698-b11f-12dbfbc29b98.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eQuantum-enhanced laser-Doppler vibrometer with 2.6 fm/√Hz sensitivity in the broadband demodulated signal\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Heterodyne laser Doppler vibrometer, squeezed light, synchronous sampling, digital demodulation, sub-shot-noise interferometer, quantummetrology","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8288663/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8288663/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Advanced industrial applications in nanotechnology, MEMS, and semiconductor manufacturing demand laser-Doppler vibrometers with femtometer displacement sensitivity. Conventional heterodyne interferometers provide high linearity and accuracy for industrial measurements but are fundamentally limited by quantum shot noise, whose disruptive influence effectively decreases with increasing measured light power. Although laser safety regulations permit a laser power of up to 10mW for a 1550nm measuring beam, temperature-sensitive structures often require lower light power. Note that a laser power of 10mW focused on 10 µm^2 corresponds to an irradiance of 1GWm^(−2). Highest resolution needs to be achieved at low laser powers of the measurement beam, which presents\r\na challenge for shot-noise-limited measurements. In this work, we present a\r\nnew resolution record for the demodulated displacement signal of our squeezedlight-\r\nenhanced heterodyne laser-Doppler vibrometer. Our system achieved a\r\ndisplacement sensitivity of 2.6 fm/√Hz with only 0.36 mW of measurement\r\npower. Our results demonstrate improved performance beyond the shot noise\r\nlimit without increasing optical power, approaching sub-fm precision in vibration\r\nmeasurements.","manuscriptTitle":"Quantum-enhanced laser-Doppler vibrometer with 2.6 fm/√Hz sensitivity in the broadband demodulated signal","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-01-09 05:15:36","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8288663/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"communications-physics","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"commsphys","sideBox":"Learn more about [Communications Physics](http://www.nature.com/commsphys/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Communications Physics","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Communications Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"29a93bec-8f18-47f9-996f-1a2f20f36084","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 9th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":63151744,"name":"Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical techniques/Imaging and sensing"},{"id":63151745,"name":"Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology/Techniques and instrumentation"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-23T23:11:02+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-01-09 05:15:36","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8288663","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8288663","identity":"rs-8288663","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}