Stabilized photonic links for space applications.

ABSTRACT

We describe basic principles of operation and report on implementation of a standalone photonic link stabilized using the electronic phase conjugation technique. This method has been demonstrated to improve link stability by more than 2 orders while reducing its size and power consumption compared to other systems. We have demonstrated packaged robust links that achieve a relative frequency instability of 2×10-17 (5×10-17) at 10 h averaging while the temperature of the fiber was varied with 2°C (15°C) magnitude.