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arXiv · 2410.19417

Interferometric Mass Photometry at the Quantum Limit of Sensitivity

Fabian Müller·Emre Köse·Alfred J. Meixner·Erik Schäffer·Daniel Braun
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Abstract

We present an innovative optical imaging system for measuring parameters of a small particle such as a macromolecule or nanoparticle at the quantum limit of sensitivity. In comparison to the conventional confocal interferometric scattering (iSCAT) approach, our setup adds a second arm to form a Michelson interferometer that allows us to tune a relative phase. We evaluate the quantum Cram\'er-Rao bound (QCRB) for different quantum states, including single-mode coherent states, multi-frequency coherent states, and phase-averaged coherent states. Our results show that the proposed setup can achieve the QCRB of sensitivity and outperform iSCAT for all considered quantum states for mass and phase estimation of a particle.

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Fabian Müller, Emre Köse, Alfred J. Meixner, Erik Schäffer, Daniel Braun. 2024-10-25. Interferometric Mass Photometry at the Quantum Limit of Sensitivity. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.111.043501

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