Stable optical and radio frequency joint transfer based on a passive phase compensation

Area of Science:

• Optoelectronics
• Radio Frequency Engineering
• Metrology

Background:

• Accurate transfer of optical and radio frequency (RF) signals is crucial for modern communication and scientific applications.
• Traditional methods often require complex active feedback systems, limiting stability and increasing cost.
• Phase noise in optical and RF signals degrades transfer accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel, simplified scheme for stable joint transfer of optical and radio frequency signals.
• To achieve simultaneous phase noise compensation for both optical and RF signals using a passive device.
• To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme through experimental validation.

Main Methods:

• A single passive phase compensation device was employed.
• Phase information of optical and RF signals was embedded onto two optical carrier sidebands generated by an electro-optical modulator.
• Simultaneous phase noise compensation was achieved without phase discrimination or active servo controllers.

Main Results:

• The proposed scheme successfully demonstrated joint transfer of optical and 1 GHz RF signals over 120 km fiber spools.
• Achieved optical frequency stability of 6.9 × 10^-17 at 1 s and 7.03 × 10^-19 at 10000 s.
• Achieved 1 GHz RF stability of 6.47 × 10^-13 at 1 s and 3.96 × 10^-16 at 10000 s.

Conclusions:

• The novel passive scheme enables stable and accurate joint transfer of optical and RF signals.
• The method offers advantages such as high spectral purity, short settling time, and high compensation accuracy.
• This approach simplifies the system architecture for precise frequency dissemination applications.