Quantum‐Enhanced Distributed Fiber‐Optic Sensing: Current State and Future Perspectives

The integration of quantum science with optical fiber technology is redefining the limits of precision measurement and distributed sensing. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in quantum‐enhanced fiber‐optic sensing, focusing on how quantum light sources, quantum materials, and quantum algorithms are converging to improve sensitivity, selectivity, and dynamic range in distributed fiber‐optic sensing (DFOS). Developments in entangled and squeezed light as well as quantum‐defect and two‐dimensional materials are shown to enable measurements of temperature, strain, pressure, magnetic field, and chemical composition beyond the classical shot‐noise limit. The exploration of quantum and quantum‐inspired algorithms to improve sensing apparatuses and frameworks and help alleviate massive data bottlenecks is highlighted. Insights drawn from magnetometry, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), optomechanics, photonic computing, tensor networks, and quantum‐enhanced imaging illustrate how cross‐domain quantum technologies can inform next‐generation fiber sensing architectures. The review also identifies key challenges, such as efficient source–fiber coupling, coherence preservation over long distances, and scalable hybrid integration and outlines future pathways toward robust, field‐deployable quantum‐enhanced DFOS for environmental monitoring, biomedical diagnostics, and infrastructure security.