Quantum two-way time transfer over a hybrid free-space and fiber link

Xi, Xiang; Shi, Bingke; Quan, Runai; Liu, Yuting; Xia, Zhiguang; Hong, Hui; Liu, Tao; Wu, Jincai; Jia, Qiang; Jia, Jianjun; Zhang, Shougang; Dong, Ruifang

doi:10.48550/arxiv.2212.01741

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…The synchronization method used is a two-way optical scheme that exploits the features of spontaneously down-converted photon pairs to provide high security time transfer. The basics of this method were proposed and described in [1,2] and a proofof-principle experimental demonstration has been performed for ground based static clocks [3], achieving synchronization precision of 51 ps in 100 s (data acquisition time) with relatively low pair rates, of order 200s −1 for Rubidium clocks separated by up to 50 meters (also see [4][5][6] for more recent demonstrations). We call this method Quantum Clock Synchronization (QCS) since it utilizes single-photon detection, the fundamentally random timing of the photon pair production, and for added security, the polarization entanglement between the photon pairs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards global time distribution via satellite-based sources of entangled photons

Haldar

Agullo²,

Brady³

et al. 2023

Phys. Rev. A

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We propose a satellite-based scheme to perform clock synchronization between ground stations spread across the globe using quantum resources. We refer to this as a quantum clock synchronization (QCS) network. Through detailed numerical simulations, we assess the feasibility and capabilities of a near-term implementation of this scheme. We consider a small constellation of satellites equipped only with modest resources. These include quantum devices such as spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) sources, avalanche photo-detectors (APDs), and moderately stable on-board clocks such as chip scale atomic clocks (CSACs). In our simulations, the various performance parameters describing the hardware have been chosen such that they are either already commercially available, or require only moderate advances. We conclude that with such a scheme establishing a global network of ground based clocks synchronized to sub-nanosecond level (up to a few picoseconds) of precision, would be feasible. Such QCS satellite constellations would form the infrastructure for a future quantum network, able to serve as a globally accessible entanglement resource. At the same time, our clock synchronization protocol, provides the sub-nanosecond level synchronization required for many quantum networking protocols, and thus, can be seen as adding an extra layer of utility to quantum technologies in the space domain designed for other purposes.

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