Ultrastable Long-Haul Fiber-Optic Radio Frequency Transfer Based on Dual-PLL

Abstract

In this paper, we demonstrate ultrastable radio-frequency (RF) transfer over long-haul optical fiber link. Our stabilized RF transfer technique is based on high-performance dual phase locked loops (dual-PLL) configuration which improves signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the round trip transmitted signals. At the local site, the frequency conversion phase-lock receiver (FCPLR) accomplishes high-quality phase tracking of the RF signal which is transmitted after long distance optical fiber link. The low phase noise signal generated by FCPLR is passively mixed with a local reference signal to realize phase conjugation. Through advisable frequency design, there is no residual RF leakage and nonlinear effect of frequency mixing. Another PLL incorporating a high-quality cleanup oscillator is located at the remote site that favourably improves short-term instability of our transmission system. In our experiment, stabilized 2.4 GHz RF signal transfer over a 1007 km optical fiber link is demonstrated without any electric relay system, and the transmission system achieves a fractional frequency instability of 8.20 × 10-14@1 s and 7.87 × 10-17@10 000 s.