Quantum sensing can provide the superior sensitivity for sensing a physical quantity beyond the shot-noise limit. In practice, however, this technique has been limited to the issues of phase ambiguity and low sensitivity for small-scale probe states. Here, we propose and demonstrate a full-period quantum phase estimation approach by adopting the Kitaev’s phase estimation algorithm to eliminate the phase ambiguity and using the GHZ states to obtain phase value, simultaneously. For an $N$-party entangled state, our approach can achieve an upper bound of sensitivity of $\delta \theta =\sqrt{3/(N^2+2N)}$, which beats the limit of adaptive Bayesian estimation. By performing an eight-photon experiment, we demonstrate the estimation of unknown phases in a full period, and observe the phase superresolution and sensitivity beyond the shot-noise limit. Our Letter provides a new way for quantum sensing and represents a solid step towards its general applications.

• Received 20 September 2022
• Accepted 28 February 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.120802