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Annalen der Physik

Setup and Characterization of a Fiber Brillouin Amplifier Module for Optical Frequency Transfer Over Interferometric Fiber Links

Alexander Kühl, Sebastian Koke, Andreas Koczwara, Thomas Waterholter, Gesine Grosche

Published Feb 22, 2025• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract The details of fiber Brillouin amplifier modules developed for optical frequency dissemination and installed on the fiber link between Braunschweig and Strasbourg for performing optical clock comparisons are described and documented. The performance of these fiber Brillouin amplification modules is characterized in terms of gain, one‐way phase shift, and signal‐to‐noise ratio across a wide parameter space of signal and pump powers. Finally, upper estimates are derived for the frequency transfer uncertainty contributions resulting from the non‐reciprocity induced by the fiber Brillouin amplifier modules based on the characterized one‐way phase shift.

DOI
10.1002/andp.202400414

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Abstract The details of fiber Brillouin amplifier modules developed for optical frequency dissemination and installed on the fiber link between Braunschweig and Strasbourg for performing optical clock comparisons are described and documented. The performance of these fiber Brillouin amplification modules is characterized in terms of gain, one‐way phase shift, and signal‐to‐noise ratio across a wide parameter space of signal and pump powers. Finally, upper estimates are derived for the frequency transfer uncertainty contributions resulting from the non‐reciprocity induced by the fiber Brillouin amplifier modules based on the characterized one‐way phase shift.
Exploiting the outstanding performance of optical atomic clocks for improved timekeeping, relativistic geodesy, and fundamental physics beyond the standard model demands comparing distant state-of-the-art optical clocks. Interferometric optical fiber links have been demonstrated as an eminent method for such frequency comparisons over distances up to thousands of kilometers. However, for such distances, the optical fiber attenuation mandates signal amplification. Fiber Brillouin amplification (FBA) has been proven as an efficient amplification technique for coherent frequency transfer. Demonstrated FBA schemes have been designed based on costly narrow-linewidth pump lasers and analog pump-to-signal phase locking schemes. Furthermore, the high pump power requirement of these FBAs hinders the integration of FBA-based frequency dissemination on fiber connections for shared telecommunication signals in the C-band. In this paper, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel FBA module (FBAM) employing cost-effective distributed feedback (DFB) pump lasers assisted by a digital phase locking scheme based on a field programmable gated array. The new FBAM is compact, cost-effective, and directly applicable to different bands, which opens up new opportunities to establish a frequency metrology infrastructure within existing telecommunication fiber networks. Additionally, the small-footprint of the DFB-FBAM allows for frequent amplification stages with lower pump power to reach continental scale optical metrology links with an optimized signal-to-noise ratio. We characterized the DFB-FBAM’s frequency transfer uncertainty using a two-way layout over an in-lab 100 km long optical fiber link and reach a fractional frequency instability of 9.3 × 10−22 at a 10 ks integration time. The DFB-FBAM characterizations show uncertainty contributions of (−2.1 ± 3.3) × 10−22 and below for averaging times >100 ks. For the first time, we assess the temporal Brillouin frequency shift variations in an underground fiber link and implement a scheme to track these changes in a remote FBAM.
Abstract We investigate optical frequency dissemination over a 1400 km long fiber link in looped configuration over a pair of underground fibers between Braunschweig and Strasbourg. This fiber link is the first to combine fiber Brillouin amplifiers with a repeater laser station. Phase-coherent operation over more than five days is demonstrated. We analyze the repeatability of the performance over four campaigns and present results of 65 d in total. The weighted mean of the fractional frequency offset of the transferred optical frequency over the complete data set is (−1.1 ± 0.4)×10–20. By analyzing the stabilization signals of the two individual fibers, the correlation of the phase noise on the two fibers is shown to be >98%.
Abstract We investigate the validation of fiber-based optical frequency transfer for frequency comparison applications. We specifically consider the frequency transfer validation for remote optical clock comparisons and want to ensure interferometric fiber link uncertainty contributions below the combined uncertainty of the clocks under test. The validation is based on signals obtained via looping back from the remote end to the sender site and comparing the input with the output of the loop. These loop-back data need to be averaged over intervals for reaching the validation goal, as the short-term instability of long-distance interferometric fiber links is typically higher than that of optical clocks. We introduce a two-step validation approach and address the finding of a compromise between opposing aspects of averaging: reaching low uncertainties versus achieving a high data coverage of the validated data set via a high temporal resolution of the fault identification. We discuss the impact of different averaging types and of the tolerance of filtering criteria on the achievable estimated uncertainty and on the coverage of the validated data set. Data from four multiple-week-long measurement campaigns on the fiber link between Physikalisch-Technische Bundesansanstalt and University of Strasbourg are used for this assessment.
In long-distance, optical continuous-wave frequency transfer via fiber, remote bidirectional Er³ ⁺ -doped fiber amplifiers are commonly used to mitigate signal attenuation. We demonstrate for the first time the ultrastable transfer of an optical frequency using a remote fiber Brillouin amplifier, placed in a server room along the link. Using it as the only means of remote amplification, on a 660 km loop of installed underground fiber we bridge distances of 250 km and 160 km between amplifications. Over several days of uninterrupted measurement, we find an instability of the frequency transfer (Allan deviation of Λ-weighted data with 1 s gate time) of around 1 × 10(-19) and less for averaging times longer than 3000 s. The modified Allan deviation reaches 3 × 10(-19) at an averaging time of 100 s. Beyond 100 s it follows the interferometer noise floor, and for averaging times longer than 1000 s the modified Allan deviation is in the 10(-20) range. A conservative value of the overall accuracy is 1 × 10(-19)
Bidirectional phase-stabilized optical fiber links allow state-of-the-art optical clocks to be compared on a continental scale.However, intercontinental comparisons are still based on satellite techniques, preventing optical clocks from being compared without degradation.We performed the first optical frequency transfer experiment over submarine links, measuring levels of environmentally induced noise substantially lower than for on-land links.From these measurements, we predict the transfer stability that can be achieved over transoceanic links.We also performed the first optical frequency transfer over fibers installed in power cables, observing optical perturbations caused by the high-voltage field.Finally, we show that the low background noise of fibers on the seafloor allows applications in geophysical sensing.