APL Photonics (Jul 2020)

Optical time-frequency transfer across a free-space, three-node network

  • Martha I. Bodine,
  • Jennifer L. Ellis,
  • William C. Swann,
  • Sarah A. Stevenson,
  • Jean-Daniel Deschênes,
  • Emily D. Hannah,
  • Paritosh Manurkar,
  • Nathan R. Newbury,
  • Laura C. Sinclair

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0010704
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 5, no. 7
pp. 076113 – 076113-8

Abstract

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We demonstrate frequency-comb-based optical two-way time-frequency transfer across a three-node clock network. A fielded, bidirectional relay node connects laboratory-based master and end nodes, allowing the network to span 28 km of turbulent outdoor air while keeping optical transmit powers below 5 mW. Despite the comparatively high instability of the free-running local oscillator at the relay node, the network transfers frequency with fractional precision below 10−18 at averaging times above 200 s and transfers time with a time deviation below 1 fs at averaging times between 1 s and 1 h. The successful operation of this network represents a promising step toward the operation of future free-space networks of optical atomic clocks.