학술논문

Picosecond Synchronization System for Quantum Networks
Document Type
Periodical
Source
Journal of Lightwave Technology J. Lightwave Technol. Lightwave Technology, Journal of. 40(23):7668-7675 Dec, 2022
Subject
Communication, Networking and Broadcast Technologies
Photonics and Electrooptics
Photonics
Clocks
Optical fiber networks
Optical fiber amplifiers
Synchronization
Optical fiber polarization
Quantum networks
C-band
clock distribution
fiber optics
O-band
photon pair
quantum-classical co-existing
quantum communication
quantum network
Raman noise
Language
ISSN
0733-8724
1558-2213
Abstract
The operation of long-distance quantum networks requires photons to be synchronized and must account for length variations of quantum channels. We demonstrate a 200 MHz clock-rate fiber optic-based telecommunication C-band quantum network using off-the-shelf components combined with custom-made electronics. The network is backed by a scalable and fully automated synchronization system with ps-scale timing resolution. Synchronization of the photons is achieved by distributing O-band-wavelength laser pulses between network nodes. Specifically, we distribute photon pairs between three nodes, and measure a reduction of coincidence-to-accidental ratio from 77 to only 42 when the synchronization system is enabled, which permits high-fidelity qubit transmission. Our demonstration sheds light on the role of noise in quantum communication and represents a key step in realizing deployed co-existing classical-quantum networks.