A Hybrid Solution for Simultaneous Transfer of Ultrastable Optical Frequency, RF Frequency, and UTC Time-Tags Over Optical Fiber

We describe a fiber-optic solution for simultaneous distribution of all signals generated at today’s most advanced time and frequency laboratories, i.e., an ultrastable optical reference frequency derived from an optical atomic clock, a radio frequency precisely linked to a realization of the SI-Second, and a realization of an atomic timescale, being the local representation of the virtual, global UTC timescale. In our solution both the phase of the optical carrier and the delay of electrical signals (10-MHz frequency reference and one-pulse-per-second time tags) are stabilized against environmental perturbations influencing the fiber link instability and accuracy. We experimentally demonstrate optical transfer stabilities of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$5 \times 10^{-19}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2 \times 10^{-15}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> for 100 s averaging period, for optical carrier and 10-MHz signals, respectively.

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