Attosecond Precision Multi-km Laser-Microwave Network

TL;DR

This paper reports the development of a laser-microwave network achieving attosecond-level synchronization over multi-kilometer distances, enabling advanced scientific applications requiring extreme timing precision.

Contribution

The authors introduce a complete synchronous laser-microwave network with attosecond precision, utilizing new metrological devices and optimized fiber systems, demonstrated over several kilometers.

Findings

Achieved 580-680 attoseconds RMS timing jitter over 3.5-4.7 km fiber links.

Maintained attosecond synchronization for over 40 hours.

Realized a 950-attosecond jitter in a full laser-microwave network for 18 hours.

Abstract

Synchronous laser-microwave networks delivering attosecond timing precision are highly desirable in many advanced applications, such as geodesy, very-long-baseline interferometry, high-precision navigation and multi-telescope arrays. In particular, rapidly expanding photon science facilities like X-ray free-electron lasers and intense laser beamlines require system-wide attosecond-level synchronization of dozens of optical and microwave signals up to kilometer distances. Once equipped with such precision, these facilities will initiate radically new science by shedding light on molecular and atomic processes happening on the attosecond timescale, such as intramolecular charge transfer, Auger processes and their impact on X-ray imaging. Here, we present for the first time a complete synchronous laser-microwave network with attosecond precision, which is achieved through new metrological devices and careful balancing of fiber nonlinearities and fundamental noise contributions. We demonstrate timing stabilization of a 4.7-km fiber network and remote optical-optical synchronization across a 3.5-km fiber link with an overall timing jitter of 580 and 680 attoseconds RMS, respectively, for over 40 hours. Ultimately we realize a complete laser-microwave network with 950-attosecond timing jitter for 18 hours. This work can enable next-generation attosecond photon-science facilities to revolutionize many research fields from structural biology to material science and chemistry to fundamental physics.