Phase- coherent comparison of two optical frequency standards over 146 km using a telecommunication fiber link

We have explored the performance of two "dark fibers" of a commercial telecommunication fiber link for a remote comparison of optical clocks. The two fibers, linking the Leibniz University of Hanover (LUH) with the Physi-kalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig, are connected in Hanover to form a total fiber length of 146 km. At PTB the performance of an optical frequency standard operating at 456 THz was imprinted to a cw trans-fer laser at 194 THz, and its frequency was transmitted over the fiber. In order to detect and compensate phase noise related to the optical fiber link we have built a low-noise optical fiber interferometer and investigated noise sources that affect the overall performance of the optical link. The frequency stability at the remote end has been measured using the clock laser of PTB's Yb+ frequency standard operating at 344 THz. We show that the frequency of a frequency-stabilized fiber laser can be transmitted over a total fiber length of 146 km with a relative frequency uncertainty below 1E-19, and short term frequency instability given by the fractional Allan deviation of sy(t)=3.3E-15/(t/s)

A novel method of measuring the melting point of animal fats

The melting point (TM) of fat is relevant to health, but available methods of determining TM are cumbersome. One of the standard methods of measuring TM for animal and vegetable fats is the slip point, also known as the open capillary method. This method is imprecise and not amenable to automation or mass testing. We have developed a technique for measuring TM of animal fat using the Rotor-Gene Q (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). The assay has an intra-assay SD of 0.08°C. A single operator can extract and assay up to 250 samples of animal fat in 24 h, including the time to extract the fat from the adipose tissue. This technique will improve the quality of research into genetic and environmental contributions to fat composition of meat

Optical frequency synthesis from a cryogenic microwave sapphire oscillator

We demonstrate an optical frequency comb with fractional frequency instability of </=2x10(-14) at measurement times near 1 s, when the 10th harmonic of the comb spacing is controlled by a liquid helium cooled microwave sapphire oscillator. The frequency instability of the comb is estimated by comparing it to a cavity-stabilized optical oscillator. The less conventional approach of synthesizing low-noise optical signals from a microwave source is relevant when a laboratory has microwave sources with frequency stability superior to their optical counterparts. We describe the influence of high frequency environmental noise and how it impacts the phase-stabilized frequency comb performance at integration times less than 1 s.J. J. McFerran, S. T. Dawkins, P. L. Stanwix, M. E. Tobar and A. N. Luite