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arXiv:1309.0728 · Optics Letters

Eavesdropping time and frequency: phase noise cancellation along a time-varying path, such as an optical fiber

Gesine Grosche

Published Apr 15, 2014• 72 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Single-mode optical fiber is a highly efficient connecting medium used not only for optical telecommunications but also for the dissemination of ultrastable frequencies or timing signals. Ma et al. [Opt. Lett.19, 1777 (1994)] described a measurement and control system to deliver the same optical frequency at two places, namely the two ends of a fiber, by eliminating the "fiber-induced phase-noise modulation, which corrupts high-precision frequency-based applications." I present a simple detection and control scheme to deliver the same optical frequency at many places anywhere along a transmission path, or in its vicinity, with a relative instability of 1 part in 10(19). The same idea applies to radio frequency and timing signals. This considerably simplifies future efforts to make precise timing or frequency signals available to many users, as required in some large-scale science experiments.

DOI
10.1364/ol.39.002545

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Single-mode optical fiber is a highly efficient connecting medium used not only for optical telecommunications but also for the dissemination of ultrastable frequencies or timing signals. Ma et al. [Opt. Lett.19, 1777 (1994)] described a measurement and control system to deliver the same optical frequency at two places, namely the two ends of a fiber, by eliminating the "fiber-induced phase-noise modulation, which corrupts high-precision frequency-based applications." I present a simple detection and control scheme to deliver the same optical frequency at many places anywhere along a transmission path, or in its vicinity, with a relative instability of 1 part in 10(19). The same idea applies to radio frequency and timing signals. This considerably simplifies future efforts to make precise timing or frequency signals available to many users, as required in some large-scale science experiments.
Optical fiber links have proven their powerful ability to transfer the ultrastable clock signals over a national and continental metrological optical network. In this Letter, we propose and demonstrate a new scheme that time and frequency signals are modulated on the same laser wavelength with phase and intensity modulation by an independent electro-optic modulator, respectively. Different wavelengths are used in two opposite directions to prevent Rayleigh scattering. The noise changes caused by the fluctuations of the transfer links are actively canceled at the local site by optical delay lines. Radio frequency with 1 GHz and time signal with one pulse per second (1 PPS) are transmitted over 110 km fiber spools. The experimental results demonstrate that frequency instabilities of 1.7 E − 14 at 1 s and 5.9 E − 17 at 10 4 s and time interval transfer of 1 PPS signal with sub-ps stability after 1000 s are obtained. This novel scheme offers advantages with respect to reduce the channel in the fiber network, and can keep the time and frequency signal free from interference with each other.
SummaryOptical fibers have been regarded as one of the most promising materials for coherent optical frequency dissemination over thousands of kilometers. For suppressing the fiber-induced phase noise along the fiber network, we demonstrate the passive phase noise cancellation (PNC) technique without the need of phase detector could be preferable for noisy fiber links. A fiber-pigtailed acousto-optic modulator (AOM) with two diffraction order outputs (0 and -1 order) has been installed at the local site and been employed as the phase compensated device in the optical frequency transfer system. With a 550 km noisy fiber link, we demonstrate a fractional transfer frequency instability of 1.3 × 10-14at the integration time of 1 s and scales down to 5.5 × 10-19at 10,000 s in terms of modified Allan deviation.
We performed a two-way remote optical phase comparison on optical fiber. Two optical frequency signals were launched in opposite directions in an optical fiber and their phases were simultaneously measured at the other end. In this technique, the fiber noise was passively cancelled, and we compared two optical frequencies at the ultimate 10-21 stability level. The experiment was performed on a 47 km fiber that is part of the metropolitan network for Internet traffic. The technique relies on the synchronous measurement of the optical phases at the two ends of the link, that is made possible by the use of digital electronics. This scheme offers some advantages with respect to active noise cancellation schemes, as the light travels only once in the fiber
We performed a two-way remote optical phase comparison on optical fiber. Two optical frequency signals were launched in opposite directions in an optical fiber and their phases were simultaneously measured at the other end. In this technique, the fiber noise is passively canceled, and we compared two optical frequencies at the ultimate 10(-21) stability level. The experiment was performed on a 47 km fiber that is part of the metropolitan network for Internet traffic. The technique relies on the synchronous measurement of the optical phases at the two ends of the link, which is here performed by digital electronics. This scheme offers some advantages with respect to active noise cancellation schemes, as the light travels only once in the fiber.
We demonstrate a photonic radio-frequency transmission system via optical fiber. Optical radio-frequency signal is generated utilizing a Mach-Zehnder modulator based on double-side-band with carrier suppression modulation scheme. The phase error induced by optical fiber transmission is transferred to an intermediate frequency signal by the dual-heterodyne phase error transfer scheme, and then canceled by a phase locked loop. With precise phase compensation, a radio frequency with high-phase stability can be obtained at the remote end. We performed 20.07-GHz radio-frequency transfer over 100-km optical fiber, and achieved residual phase noise of -65 dBc/Hz at 1-Hz offset frequency, and the RMS timing jitter in the frequency range from 0.01 Hz to 1 MHz reaches 110 fs. The long-term frequency stability also achieves 8×10(-17) at 10,000 s averaging time.