Quantum-enhanced plasmonic sensing

Quantum resources can enhance the sensitivity of a device beyond the classical shot noise limit and, as a result, revolutionize the field of metrology through the development of quantum-enhanced sensors. In particular, plasmonic sensors, which are widely used in biological and chemical sensing applications, offer a unique opportunity to bring such an enhancement to real-life devices. Here, we use bright entangled twin beams to enhance the sensitivity of a plasmonic sensor used to measure local changes in the refractive index. We demonstrate a 56% quantum enhancement in the sensitivity of a state-of-the-art plasmonic sensor when compared with the corresponding classical configuration and a 24% quantum enhancement when compared to an optimal single-beam classical configuration. We measure sensitivities on the order of 10−10  RIU/Hz, nearly 5 orders of magnitude better than previous proof-of-principle implementations of quantum-enhanced plasmonic sensors. These results promise significant enhancements in ultratrace label-free plasmonic sensing and will find their way into areas ranging from biomedical applications to chemical detection.