Co-Propagation of Quantum Time Synchronization and Optical Frequency Transfer over a 122 km Hollow-Core Fiber
National Time Service Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院国家授时中心);University of Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院大学);Hefei National Laboratory(合肥国家实验室);China Mobile Research Institute(中国移动研究院)
The co-propagation of quantum and classical signals through shared optical fibers is crucial for scalable quantum networks. However, this coexistence is fundamentally limited by spontaneous Raman scattering (SpRS) from the bright classical light, which generates overwhelming noise that disrupts the single-photon-level quantum signals. Here, we overcome this long-standing challenge by leveraging the inherently ultralow nonlinearity of hollow-core fiber (HCF) to suppress SpRS noise. By operating both the quantum time synchronization (QTS) and classical optical frequency transfer (OFT) signals within the telecom C-band, separated by only ~10 nm, we successfully demonstrate their simultaneous transmission over a 122-km HCF link. With a classical OFT power of 1 mW, the QTS performance shows negligible degradation, maintaining sub-picosecond time stability at 2000 s, while the OFT achieves a fractional frequency instability of 10^-20. Near-sub-picosecond QTS stability is preserved even when the classical power is increased to 3 mW. Furthermore, simulations based on our experimental data indicate that with next-generation low-loss HCF, the platform can tolerate classical powers beyond 10 mW and extend the QTS range to over 500 km. By realizing a unified quantum-classical time-frequency distribution framework, this work establishes HCF as a highly capable and practical platform for future scalable quantum networks.
High-rate continuous-variable quantum key distribution coexisting with Tb/s coherent classical transmission in hollow-core fiber
Huazhong University of Science and Technology(华中科技大学);Yangtze Optica Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Limited Company (YOFC)(长飞光纤光缆股份有限公司);Chalmers University of Technology(查尔姆斯理工大学);University of Florence(佛罗伦萨大学)
Polarization Purity and Dispersion Characteristics of Nested Antiresonant Nodeless Hollow-Core Optical Fiber at Near- and Short-wave-IR Wavelengths for Quantum Communications
Preservation of photon statistics upon selective molecular modulation in hollow-core fibers
University of the Basque Country (EHU)(巴斯克大学);University of Limoges(利摩日大学);CNRS UMR 7252(法国国家科学研究中心);University of Erlangen-Nürnberg(埃尔朗根-纽伦堡大学);Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light(马克斯·普朗克光科学研究所);IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science(伊克尔巴斯基奎,巴斯克科学基金会)