Optical Frequency Transfer with a 1284 km Coherent Fiber Link

We realized a coherent optical fiber link in Italy, with a fiber haul of 642 km. To characterize the link, we doubled the link to 1284 km, demonstrating a characterization technique based on the double round trip on a single fiber. The link is intended to significantly improve the frequency references used in radio-astronomy and precision measurements in atomic physics. The data analysis is based on the Allan deviation, whose expression is theoretically derived from the noise power spectrum. The demonstrated resolution is 3×10-19 in 1000 s and the uncertainty of the transfer is 5×10-19. The arming of a second fiber is avoided, and this could be rather beneficial to long hauls realizations for a continental fiber network for frequency and time metrology.