The structure of a distributed optical atomic clock system for nationwide frequency metrology

Abstract

This article presents a concept for a nationwide, distributed optical atomic clock system. The proposed architecture is based on the transmission of a reference optical frequency signal via optical fiber to remote laboratories, enabling their local oscillators to be phase‑locked to distant optical atomic clocks. This initiative can significantly advance Polish time and frequency metrology by increasing nationwide access to the Polish Optical Atomic Clocks for scientific research, and metrological applications. The paper describes the concept of the distributed frequency standard and discusses its technical requirements. Remote laboratories using commercial optical cavities may achieve short‑term stability at the level of < 2 × 10−15, while the long‑term instability can reach below 10−17 for averaging times of 1000 seconds. The distributed optical signal may be used to stabilize various lasers, via optical frequency comb, which then interrogate cold particles in secondary frequency standards, enabling comparisons and redefinition of the SI second.

Bibliography

[1] [Sli20] Śliwczyński Ł., Krehlik P., Imlau H., Ender H., Schnatz H., Piester D., Bauch A., IEEE Comm. Mag., Fiber-based UTC dissemination supporting 5G telecommunications networks, 2020, vol. 58, pp. 67-73. DOI: 10.1109/MCOM.001.1900599.
[2] [Ess55] Essen L., and Parry J. V. L., Nature, An Atomic Standard of Frequency and Time Interval: A Caesium Resonator, 1955, vol. 176, pp. 280–282. DOI: doi.org/10.1038/176280a0.
[3] [Ess57] Essen L., and Parry J. V. L., Philos. Trans. A Math. Phys. Eng. Sci, The Caesium Resonator as a Standard of Frequency and Time, 1957, vol. 250, pp. 45–69. DOI: doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1957.0010.
[4] [Wey18] Weyers S., Gerginov V., Kazda M., Rahm J., Lipphardt B., Dobrev G. and Gibble K., Metrologia, Advances in the accuracy, stability, and reliability of the PTB primary fountain clocks, 2018, vol. 55, pp. 789-805. DOI: 10.1088/1681-7575/aae008.
[5] [Gue17] Guéna J., Weyers S., Abgrall M., Grebing C., Gerginov V., Rosenbusch P., Bize S., Lipphardt B., Denker H., Quintin N., Raupach S., Nicolodi D, Stefani F., Chiodo N., Koke S., Kuhl A., Wiotte F., Meynadier F., Camisard E., Chardonnet C., Le Coq Y., Lours M., Santarelli G., Amy-Klein A., Le Targat R., Lopez O., Pottie P. and Grosche G., Metrologia, First international comparison of fountain primary frequency standards via a long distance optical fiber link, 2017, vol. 54, pp. 348–354. DOI: 10.1088/1681-7575/aa65fe.
[6] [Lud15] Ludlow A., Boyd M., Ye J., Peik E., Schmidt P. O., Rev. Mod. Phys, Optical atomic clocks, 2015, vol. 87, pp. 637–701. DOI: doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.87.637.
[7] [Nic15] Nicholson T. L., Campbell S. L., Hutson R. B., Marti G. E., Bloom B. J., McNally R. L., Zhang W., Barrett M. D., Safronova M. S., Strouse G. F., Tew W. L., and Ye J., Nat. Commun., Systematic evaluation of an atomic clock at 2 x10-18 total uncertainty, 2015, vol. 6 (6896). DOI: doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7896.
[8] [Hun16] Huntemann N., Sanner C., Lipphardt B., Tamm C., and Peik E., Phys. Rev. Lett., Single-ion atomic clock with 10-18 systematic uncertainty, 2016, vol. 116(063001). DOI: doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.063001.
[9] [Hob20] Hobson R., Bowden W., Vianello A., Silva A., Baynham C., Margolis H., Baird P., Gill P., Hill I., Metrologia, A strontium optical lattice clock with
1 × 10−17 uncertainty and measurement of its absolute frequency, 2020, vol. 57(065026). DOI: 10.1088/1681-7575/abb530.
[10] [Ban23] Bandi T. N., Biology, Engineering, Medicine and Science Reports, A Comprehensive Overview of Atomic Clocks and their Applications, 2023, vol. 9(1), pp. 1–10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5530/bems.9.1.1.
[11] [Gro18] Grotti J., Koller S., Vogt S., Häfner S., Sterr U., Listad Ch., Denker H., Voigt Ch., Timmen L., Rolland A., Baynes F.N., Margolis H.S., Zampaolo M., Thoumany P., Pizzocaro M., Rauf B., Bregolin F., Tampellini A., Barbieri P., Zucco M., Costanzo G.A., Clivati C., Levi F., Calonico D., Nat. Phys, Geodesy and metrology with a transportable optical clock, 2018, vol. 14, pp. 437–441. DOI: 10.1038/s41567-017-0042-3.
[12] [Tak20] Takamoto M., Ushijima I., Ohmae N., Yahagi T., Kokado K., Shinkai H., Katori H., Nat. Photonics, Test of general relativity by a pair of transportable optical lattice clocks, 2020, vol. 14, pp. 411–415. DOI: 10.1038/s41566-020-0619-8.
[13] [Mar21] Marlow B.L., Scherer D.R., IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Control, A review of commercial and emerging atomic frequency standards, 2021, vol. 68, pp. 2007–2022. DOI: 10.1109/TUFFC.2021.3049713.
[14] [Ros24] Roslund J.D., Cingöz A., Lunden W. D., Partridge G. B. , Kowligy A. S., Roller F., Sheredy D. B., Skulason G. E., Song J. P., Abo‑Shaeer J. R., Boyd M. M., Nature, Optical clocks at sea, 2024, vol. 628, pp. 736–740. DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07225-2.
[15] [Mar24] Margolis H. S ., Panfilo G., Petit G., Oates C., Ido T., and Bize S ., Metrologia, The CIPM list ‘Recommended values of standard frequencies’: 2021 update, 2024, vol. 61(0350 05). DOI: doi.org/10.1088/1681-7575/ad3afc.
[16] [Sto19] Stock M., Davis R., de Mirandés E., Milton M., Metrologia, The revision of the SI — the result of three decades of progress in metrology, 2019, vol.
56(022001). DOI: 10.1088/1681-7575/ab0013.
[17] [Morz15] Morzyński P., Bober M., Bartoszek-Bober D., Nawrocki J., Krehlik P., Śliwczyński Ł., Lipiński M., Masłowski P., Cygan A., Dunst P., Garus M., Lisak D., Zachorowski J., Gawlik W., Radzewicz C., Ciuryło R., Zawada M., Sci. Rep., Absolute measurement of the 1S0 − 3P0 clock transition in neutral 88Sr over the 330 km longstabilized fibre optic link, 2015, vol. 5(17495). DOI: 10.1038/srep17495.
[18] [Bob15] Bober M. Bober M., Morzyński P., Cygan A., Lisak D., Masłowski P., Prymaczek M., Wcisło P., Ablewski P., Piwiński M., Wójtewicz S., Bielska K., Bartoszek-Bober D., Trawiński R. S., Zawada M., Ciuryło R., Zachorowski J., Piotrowski M., Gawlik W., Ozimek F., Radzewicz C., Meas. Sci. Technol., Strontium optical lattice clocks for practical realization of the metre and secondary representation of the second, 2015, vol.26(075201). DOI: 10.1088/0957-0233/26/7/075201.
[19] [Jia15] Jiang Z., Czubla A., Nawrocki J., Lewandowski W., Arias E.F., Metrologia, Comparing a GPS time link calibration with an optical fibre self-calibration with 200 ps accuracy, 2015, vol. 52, pp. 384, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/0026-1394/52/2/384.
[20] [Pet21] Petit G., GPS Solutions, Sub-10–16 accuracy GNSS frequency transfer with IPPP, 2021, vol. 25(22). DOI: https://doi.org /10.10 07/s10291-020-01062-2.
[21] [Pet22] Petit G., Meynadier F., Harmegnies A., Parra C., Metrologia, Continuous IPPP links for UTC, 2022, vol. 59, pp. 0450 07, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1681-7575/ac7687.
[22] [Elm24] Elmaghraby A., Krawinkel T., Schön S., Kniggendorf A‑K., Kuhl A., Mukherjee S., Kronjäger J., Piester D., Proceedings of the 55th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting, Comparing Frequency Transfer via GNSS and Fiber in a Common-Clock Configuration, 2024, vol. —, pp. 105–116, DOI: https://doi.org/10.33012/2024.19592.
[23] [Lin25] Lindvall T., Pizzocaro M., Godun R. M., Abgrall M., Akamatsu D., Amy‑Klein A., Benkler E., Bhatt N. M., Calonico D., Cantin E., Cantoni E.,Cerretto G., Chardonnet C., Cifuentes Marin M. A.,Clivati C., Condio S., Curtis E. A., Denker H.,Donadello S., Dörscher S., Feng C.‑H., Filzinger M., Fordell T., Goti I., Hanhijärvi K., Hausser H. N., Hill I. R.,Hosaka K., Huntemann N., Johnson M. Y. H., Keller J., Klose J., Kobayashi T., Koke S., Kuhl A., Le Targat R., Legero T., Levi F., Lipphardt B., Lisdat C., Liu H., Lodewyck J., Lopez O., Mazouth‑Laurol M., Mehlstäubler T. E., Mura A., Nishiyama A., Nordmann T., Parsons A. O., Petit G., Pointard B., Pottie P.‑E., Risaro M., Robertson B. I., Schioppo M., Shang H., Stahl K., Steinel M., Sterr U., Tofful A., Tønnes M., Tran D. B.‑A., Tunesi J., Wallin A. E., Margolis H. S., Optica, Coordinated international comparisons between optical clocks connected via fiber and satellite links, 2025, vol. 12, pp. 843–852, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.561754.
[24] [EMPIR19] https://www.euramet.org/research-innovation/search-research-projects/details/?tx_eurametctcp_project[project]=1409 [access on 25.07.2024].
[25] [Xu18] Xu D., Lee W., Stefani F., Lopez O., Amy Klein A., Pottie P., Optics Express, Studying the fundamental limit of optical fiber links to the 10−21 level, 2018, vol. 26, pp. 9515‑9527. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.26.009515.
[26] [Zho24] Zhou Q, Zhang X., Zang Q., Wu M., Wang D., Liu J., Dong R., Liu T., Zhang S., Chinese Physics Letters, Robust Transfer of Optical Frequency over 500 km Fiber Link with Instability of 10−2 1, 2024, vol. 41(084202). DOI: 10.1088/0256‑307X/41/8/084202.
[27] [Dim24] Dimarcq N., Gertsvolf M., Mileti G., Bize S., Oates C. W., Peik E., Calonico D., Ido T., Tavella P., Meynadier F., Petit G., Panfilo G., Bartholomew J., Defraigne P., Donley E. A., Hedekvist P. O., Sesia I., Wouters M., Dubé P., Fang F., Levi F., Lodewyck J., Margolis H. S., Newell D., Slyusarev S., Weyers S., Uzan J‑P., Yasuda M., Yu D‑H., Rieck C., Schnatz H., Hanado Y., Fujieda M., Pottie P‑E., Hanssen J., Malimon A. and Ashby N., Metrologia, Roadmap towards the redefinition of the second, 2024, vol. 61(012001). DOI: 10.1088/1681‑7575/ad17d2.
[28] [Mar24a] Margolis H. S., Panfilo G., Petit G., Oates C., Ido TY. and Bize S., Metrologia, The CIPM list ‘Recommended values of standard frequencies’: 2021 update, 2024, vol. 61(0350 05). DOI: 10.1088/1681‑7575/ad3afc.
[29] [Mar24b] Margolis H. S., Godun R. M., Huntemann N., Le Targat R., Pizzocaro M., Zawada M., Abgrall M., Akamatsu D., Álvarez Martínez H., Amy‑Klein A., Andia M., Benkler E., Bhatt N. M., Bilicki S., Bize S., Bober M., Calonico D., Cambier V., Cantin E., Chardonnet C., Cifuentes Marín M., Clivati C., Condio S., Curtis E. A., Czubla A., Doležal M., Dörscher S., Dunst P., Feng C‑H., Filzinger M., Folman R., Fordell T., Formichella V., Foucault Y., Galleani L., Goti I., Groswasser D., Gruszczyński M., Guo C., Hanhijärvi K. J., Hausser H. N., Hill I.R., Hosaka K., Johnson M. Y. H., Keller J., Klose J., Kobayashi T., Koke S., Kovačić D., Křen P., Kuhl A., Ledziński A., Lemański D., Levi F., Lindvall T., Lisdat C., Liu H., Lodewyck J., Lopez O., Lorini L., Lours M., Mašika P., Mazouth‑Laurol M., Mehlstaubler T. E., Moreno W., Morzyński P., Narożnik M., Nawrocki J., Nishiyama A., Nogaś P., Nordmann T., Parsons A. O., Pointard B., Pottie P. E., Risaro M., Robertson B. I., Romero González J., Schioppo M., Sesia I., Shang H., Signorile G., Stahl K., Steinel M., Sterr U., Suárez Ramírez J., Tofful A., Tønnes M., Tran A., Tunesi J., Wallin A. E., Waterholter T., Zarei M. and Zyskind C.: J. Phys.: Conf. Ser., Robust Optical Clocks for International Timescales (ROCIT), 2889(012022), DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/2889/1/012022.
[30] [For19] Fortier T., Baumann E., Commun Phys, 20 years of developments in optical frequency comb technology and applications, 2019, vol. 2(153). DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-019-0249-y.
[31] [Wil08] Williams P. A., Swann W. C., Newbury N. R., Journal of the Optical Society of America B, High-stability transfer of an optical frequency over long fiber-optic links, 2008, vol. 25, pp. 1284-1293. DOI: doi.org/10.1364/JOSAB.25.001284.
[32] [Dom10] Di Domenico G., Schilt S., Thomann P., Applied Optics, Simple approach to the relation between laser frequency noise and laser line shape, 2010, vol. 49, pp. 4801-4807. DOI: doi.org/10.1364/AO.49.004801.
[33] [Sli19] Śliwczyński Ł., Krehlik P., Salwik K., IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroel. Freq. Contr., Modeling and optimization of bi-directional fiber optic links for time and frequency transfer, 2019, vol. 66, pp. 632-642. DOI: 10.1109/TUFFC.2018.2889186.
[34] [ORC25] Menlo Systems GmbH, ORC – Cylindric Reference Cavity in Vacuum Datasheet, ver. 04.04.2025, https://www.menlosystems.com/products/ultrastable-lasers/orc/ [access on 09.04.2026].
[35] [Gre19] McGrew W. F., Zhang X., Leopardi H., Fasano R. J., Nicolodi D., Beloy K., Yao J., Sherman J.A., Schäffer S. A., Savory J., Brown R. C., Römisch S., Oates C. W., Parker T.E., Fortier T. M., and Ludlow A.D., Optica, Towards the optical second: verifying optical clocks at the SI limit, 2019, vol. 6, pp. 448-454. DOI: doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.6.000448.
[36] [Kre21] Krehlik P., Śliwczyński Ł., Buczek Ł., Schnatz H., Kronjaeger J., IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroel. Freq. Contr, Optical multiplexing of metrological time and frequency signals in a single 100-GHzgrid optical channel, 2021, vol. 68, pp. 2303-2310. DOI: doi 10.1109/TUFFC.2021.3053430.

Metrology & Hallmark Central Office of Measures

Access panel

Search

Current volume