Attosecond-precision balanced linear-optics timing detector

A new timing detection method based on acousto-optic modulation is demonstrated. The timing detector is immune to dispersion effects and the environmental and laser amplitude noise can be well suppressed by a balanced configuration. With 1 mW power per pulse train, the measured timing noise floor is about 1x10(-10) fs(2)/Hz, which is close to the shot noise limit. The integrated timing jitter is 26 as at [1 Hz, 1 MHz]. With 170 fs pulse width and typical detector parameters, the calculated detector's timing noise floor is more than 5 and 12 orders of magnitude lower than that of a BOC, at 1 mW and 1 mu W input power, respectively. This timing detector has a variety of potential applications in ultra-long fiber link stabilization, quantum metrology, weak signal timing control, etc. (C) 2021 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

The new timing detection method based on acousto-optic modulation is immune to dispersion effects, can effectively suppress noise, and achieves timing noise close to the shot noise limit. It has potential applications in ultra-long fiber link stabilization, quantum metrology, weak signal timing control, and more.