Quantum nonlocal modulation cancellation with distributed clocks

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates nonlocal modulation cancellation of entangled photons using distributed RF clocks over fiber, achieving sub-picosecond synchronization suitable for advanced quantum networking protocols.

Contribution

It introduces a simple, feedback-free RFoF system for quantum networking that enables nonlocal modulation control with high precision over fiber links.

Findings

Successful nonlocal modulation cancellation observed

Achieved sub-picosecond synchronization over 5.5 km fiber

Validated system's effectiveness for quantum networking applications

Abstract

We demonstrate nonlocal modulation of entangled photons with truly distributed RF clocks. Leveraging a custom radio-over-fiber (RFoF) system characterized via classical spectral interference, we validate its effectiveness for quantum networking by multiplexing the RFoF clock with one photon from a frequency-bin-entangled pair and distributing the coexisting quantum-classical signals over fiber. Phase modulation of the two photons reveals nonlocal correlations in excellent agreement with theory: in-phase modulation produces additional sidebands in the joint spectral intensity, while out-of-phase modulation is nonlocally canceled. Our simple, feedback-free design attains sub-picosecond synchronization -- namely, drift less than $\sim$0.5 ps in a 5.5 km fiber over 30 min (fractionally only $\sim$2$\times$10$^{-8}$ of the total fiber delay) -- and should facilitate frequency-encoded quantum networking protocols such as high-dimensional quantum key distribution and entanglement swapping, unlocking frequency-bin qubits for practical quantum communications in deployed metropolitan-scale networks.