Simple Stabilized Radio-Frequency Transfer with Optical Phase Actuation

TL;DR

This paper presents a simple, compact method for stabilizing radio-frequency signals over long fiber links using optical phase sensing and actuation, demonstrating high stability suitable for radio telescope applications.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel stabilized RF transfer technique that simplifies implementation and reduces size compared to previous methods, using optical phase control.

Findings

Achieved stable transfer of 160 MHz over 166 km fiber

Attained an Allan deviation of 9.7x10^-12 at 1 s

Suitable for large-scale radio telescope arrays

Abstract

We describe and experimentally evaluate a stabilized radio-frequency transfer technique that employs optical phase sensing and optical phase actuation. This technique can be achieved by modifying existing stabilized optical frequency equipment and also exhibits advantages over previous stabilized radio-frequency transfer techniques in terms of size and complexity. We demonstrate the stabilized transfer of a 160 MHz signal over an 166 km fiber optical link, achieving an Allan deviation of 9.7x10^-12 Hz/Hz at 1 s of integration, and 3.9x10^-1414 Hz/Hz at 1000 s. This technique is being considered for application to the Square Kilometre Array SKA1-low radio telescope.