Measurement of the Relative Timing Jitter Between an Example Pulsed Laser and an Ultra-Low-Noise RF Reference Frequency Signal
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Applications

• Characterization of Mode-Locked Lasers
• Characterization of Control Loops in Synchronized Systems
• Timing Distribution Systems in Accelerator Facilities
• Optical Communications Systems
• Optical Sampling Applications
• Time-Domain Spectroscopy
• THz Physics

Menlo Systems’ Phase Noise System (PNS) provides a flexible approach for the measurement and evaluation of phase noise and timing jitter. It can be easily adapted to customer requirements, like sampling noise floor and frequency range. The system has three different modes of operation: phase noise detection from RF spectrum analyzer data, phase noise detection from time domain data, and relative intensity noise detection. Due to the Phase Noise System's versatility, a wide span of applications can be covered.

In order to be able to measure low timing jitter values, a fast and automated detection system with a low enough noise floor and high enough frequency range is required. A graphical display of the measurement results is important as well. The image to the left shows a measurement of the relative timing jitter between an example pulsed laser and an ultra-low-noise RF reference frequency signal, using a 16-Bit resolution A/D converter the sampling noise floor is -156 dBc/Hz at a sample rate of 1 MS/s. A basic setup schematic for the measurement is shown above.