Demonstration of 50 Km Fiber-Optic Two-Way Quantum Clock Synchronization

Fiber-optic Quantum clock synchronization has been proposed and experimentally demonstrated for its potential enhancements in precision and better guarantee of security. To further prove its advantage in practical applications, it is necessary to test its synchronization performance between clocks apart for at least intracity optical fiber distance. In this paper, we report a fiber-optic two-way quantum clock synchronization experiment with the distance reaching 50 km. With the common reference clock, a synchronization stability of 54.6 fs at 57300 s and an accuracy of 1.3 ps +/- 36.6 ps have been achieved. With independent reference clocks, comparable performance has also been achieved combined with the microwave frequency transfer technology, which shows a stability of 89.5 fs at 57300 s. These results nicely showcase the feasibility of the two-way quantum clock synchronization to provide femtosecond-scale synchronization precision over intracity optical fiber links.

Automated summary

This paper reports a fiber-optic two-way quantum clock synchronization experiment, demonstrating the feasibility of achieving femtosecond-scale synchronization precision over a distance of 50 km. Comparable performance can also be achieved even with independent reference clocks in combination with microwave frequency transfer technology.