Optimal pre- and post-selections of weak measurements for precision parameter estimation

Weak measurements, which offer a significant signal enhancement with pre- and post-selections, have proven to be powerful for precision metrology. However, the measured precision of the parameter of interest is always limited by the post-selection-induced probe loss, especially in the presence of technical noise. In this paper, we investigate the optimal pre- and post-selections of weak measurements for precision metrology in the presence of technical noise. While weak measurements apply more generally, we experimentally measure the spin splitting induced by the spin Hall effect of light (SHEL) to approach this issue. The highest measured precision of the spin splitting can be obtained with the post-selected state in the nonlinear intermediate regime. Surprisingly, the pre- and post-selections for the largest weak-value amplification are incapable of estimation of the spin splitting, since the amplified shift is independent of the spin splitting. Our results are not restricted to the SHEL and could be applied to other parameter estimations with weak measurements. Published by AIP Publishing.