Quantum 2025 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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TUE: Tuesday Contributed Sessions

TUE 2: Quantum Networks: Technologies

TUE 2.8: Vortrag

Dienstag, 9. September 2025, 16:00–16:15, ZHG002

Synchronization of remote Time Taggers for quantum communication applications — •Mickey Martini, Edoardo Mornacchi, Timon Eichhorn, Jan Bruin, and Mirco Kolarczik — Swabian Instruments GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany

Synchronous detection of photon events at large distances is a key enabler for quantum communication. While local Time Taggers reach a timing resolution below 2 ps, synchronization of Time Taggers on the scale of kilometers at a comparable resolution level is a challenge. The precise correlation between photon streams and characterization of single events within the stream allows for advanced filtering mechanisms that can target for suppression of background noise as well as for recognition of attacks on the communication channel. The impact of these approaches depends strongly on the effective timing resolution of the synchronized time-tagging system.

In this presentation, we give an overview of software components that contribute to a flexible and easy-to-use synchronization solution. As a first level of synchronization, we demonstrate the use of commercially available White Rabbit (WR) technology for clock distribution. WR promises sub-nanosecond accuracy (clock offsets) at picosecond precision (clock stabilization). We demonstrate that the additional jitter of such a system is below 4 ps. To handle the data from remote sites, we present a merging solution based on standard network protocols. Finally, we provide insights into the development of a second synchronization layer that aligns the photon streams.

Keywords: Time Tagger; White Rabbit; Synchronization; Timing resolution; Time-correlated single-photon counting