Dual optical frequency transfer through wavelength-division and polarization multiplexing in an 184-meter fiber link

Abstract

Stabilized dual optical frequency transfer is demonstrated through wavelength-division or polarization multiplexing in a 184-meter long polarization-maintaining fiber link. The latter is stabilized at a primary frequency in the telecom C-band using the established Doppler cancellation technique. Simultaneously, a secondary optical frequency is transferred in the same fiber. Out-of-loop characterization demonstrates an indirect Doppler cancellation for the secondary optical frequency. Compared to an unstabilized link, at 1000 seconds integration time we measure an 11.5 dB stability improvement for wavelength-division multiplexing and a 16 dB improvement for polarization multiplexing. Taking advantage of a stabilized link to distribute other wavelengths is useful for applications in frequency metrology. As an example, we are using a cavity-stabilized 1560 nm laser to stabilize the fiber link while a 1556.2 nm two-photon rubidium clock laser is being distributed.