No Arabic abstract
To significantly improve the frequency references used in radio-astronomy and precision measurements in atomic physics, we provide frequency dissemination through a 642 km coherent optical fiber link, that will be also part of a forthcoming European network of optical links. We obtained a resolution of 3e-19 at 1000 s on the frequency transfer, and an accuracy of 5e-19. The ultimate link performance has been evaluated by doubling the link to 1284 km, demonstrating a new characterization technique based on the double round-trip on a single fiber. The arming of a second fiber is avoided: this is beneficial to long hauls realizations in view of a continental fiber network for frequency and time metrology. The data analysis is based on the Allan deviation; its expression is theoretically derived for the observed noise power spectrum, which is seldom found in the literature.
We demonstrate the long-distance transmission of an ultra-stable optical frequency derived directly from a state-of-the-art optical frequency standard. Using an active stabilization system we deliver the frequency via a 146 km long underground fiber link with a fractional instability of 3*10^{-15} at 1 s, which is close to the theoretical limit for our transfer experiment. The relative uncertainty for the transfer is below 1*10^{-19} after 30 000 seconds. Tests with a very short fiber show that noise in our stabilization system contributes fluctuations which are two orders of magnitude lower, namely 3*10^{-17} at 1 s, reaching 10^{-20} after 4000 s.
We have explored the performance of two dark fibers of a commercial telecommunication fiber link for a remote comparison of optical clocks. The two fibers, linking the Leibniz University of Hanover (LUH) with the Physi-kalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig, are connected in Hanover to form a total fiber length of 146 km. At PTB the performance of an optical frequency standard operating at 456 THz was imprinted to a cw trans-fer laser at 194 THz, and its frequency was transmitted over the fiber. In order to detect and compensate phase noise related to the optical fiber link we have built a low-noise optical fiber interferometer and investigated noise sources that affect the overall performance of the optical link. The frequency stability at the remote end has been measured using the clock laser of PTBs Yb+ frequency standard operating at 344 THz. We show that the frequency of a frequency-stabilized fiber laser can be transmitted over a total fiber length of 146 km with a relative frequency uncertainty below 1E-19, and short term frequency instability given by the fractional Allan deviation of sy(t)=3.3E-15/(t/s).
In long-haul optical continuous-wave frequency transfer via fiber, remote bidirectional Er$^+$-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 $Lambda$-weighted data with 1 s gate time) of around $1times10^{-19}$ and less for averaging times longer than 3000 s. The modified Allan deviation reaches $3times10^{-19}$ at an averaging time of 100 s, corresponding to the current noise floor at this averaging time. 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 $1times10^{-19}$.
We demonstrate a remote microwave/radio-frequency (RF) transfer technique based on the stabilization of a fiber link using a fiber-loop optical-microwave phase detector (FLOM-PD). This method compensates for the excess phase fluctuations introduced in fiber transfer by direct phase comparison between the optical pulse train reflected from the remote site and the local microwave/RF signal using the FLOM-PD. This enables sub-fs resolution and long-term stable link stabilization while having wide timing detection range and less demand in fiber dispersion compensation. The demonstrated relative frequency instability between 2.856-GHz RF oscillators separated by a 2.3-km fiber link is $7.6 times 10^{-18}$ and $6.5 times 10^{-19}$ at 1000 s and 82500 s averaging time, respectively.
We report the first demonstration of a long-distance ultra stable frequency dissemination in the microwave range. A 9.15 GHz signal is transferred through a 86-km urban optical link with a fractional frequency stability of 1.3x10-15 at 1 s integration time and below 10-18 at one day. The optical link phase noise compensation is performed with a round-trip method. To achieve such a result we implement light polarisation scrambling and dispersion compensation. This link outperforms all the previous radiofrequency links and compares well with recently demonstrated full optical links.