Enhancing quantum imaging efficiency by BiBO crystal-based entangled light source

Quantum imaging utilizing entangled photon pairs takes advantage of their strong quantum correlations to surpass the limitations of classical imaging techniques in terms of spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. However, due to the low brightness of entangled photon sources, an enormous number of intensity images (∼107) is required for imaging in previous studies in order to acquire images with a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio, posing a challenge for practical implementation. A BiBO crystal, known for its large nonlinear optical coefficient, is considered a promising high-brightness entangled photon source. However, its performance has not been quantitatively evaluated in the context of quantum imaging systems, particularly regarding its impact on imaging performance. Here, we investigate the potential of a BiBO crystal as a light source for high-efficiency quantum imaging by performing parallel intensity correlation measurements and implementing quantum image distillation as an example in comparison with a commonly used BBO crystal. The results demonstrate that the use of the BiBO crystal enables more efficient quantum imaging compared to the conventional BBO crystal.