Comparison of the signal-to-noise characteristics of quantum versus thermal ghost imaging
- Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627 (United States)
We present a theoretical comparison of the signal-to-noise characteristics of quantum versus thermal ghost imaging. We first calculate the signal-to-noise ratio of each process in terms of its controllable experimental conditions. We show that a key distinction is that a thermal ghost image always resides on top of a large background; the fluctuations in this background constitutes an intrinsic noise source for thermal ghost imaging. In contrast, there is a negligible intrinsic background to a quantum ghost image. However, for practical reasons involving achievable illumination levels, acquisition times for thermal ghost images are often much shorter than those for quantum ghost images. We provide quantitative predictions for the conditions under which each process provides superior performance. Our conclusion is that each process can provide useful functionality, although under complementary conditions.
- OSTI ID:
- 21528719
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. A, Vol. 82, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.82.053803; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 1050-2947
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Systematic analysis of signal-to-noise ratio in bipartite ghost imaging with classical and quantum light
X-ray imaging using avalanche multiplication in amorphous selenium: Investigation of intrinsic avalanche noise