Multi-nodes dissemination of stable radio frequency with 10−17 instability over 2000 km optical fiber

Abstract

To meet the demand of flexible access for high-precision synchronization frequency, we demonstrate multi-node stable radio frequency (RF) dissemination over a long-distance optical fiber. Stable radio frequency signals can be extracted at any node along the optical fiber, not just at the endpoint. The differential mixing structure (DMS) is employed to avoid the frequency harmonic leakage and enhance the precision. The phase-locked loop (PLL) provides frequency reference for the DMS while improving the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of dissemination signal. We measure the frequency instability of multi-node stable frequency dissemination system (MFDS) at different locations along the 2,000 km optical fiber. The measured short-term instability with average time of 1 s are 1.90 × 10−14 @ 500 km, 2.81 × 10−14 @ 1,000 km, 3.46 × 10−14 @ 1,500 km, and 3.84 × 10−14 @ 2,000 km respectively. The long-term instability with average time of 10,000 s are basically the same at any position of the optical fiber, which is about (6.24 ± 0.05) × 10−17. The resulting instability is sufficient for the propagation of precision active hydrogen masers.