Quantum Optics and Its Applications in Imaging, Spectroscopy and Single Photon Absorption

In this lecture, an introduction to quantum optics will first be presented. Quantum states of light, such as coherent and squeezed states, will be introduced, and their properties, generation methods, and detection techniques will be discussed. Next, the generation of entangled photons using the nonlinear optical process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion will be explained. This will be followed by a discussion on single-photon interference in a Mach–Zehnder interferometer. Finally, topics such as quantum illumination, imaging, spectroscopy, and complete single-photon absorption using entangled photons will be addressed.