An integrated femtosecond timing distribution system for XFELS

Tightly synchronized lasers and RF-systems with timing jitter in the few femtoseconds range are necessary sub-systems for future X-ray free electron laser facilities. In this paper, we present an optical-microwave phase detector that is capable of extracting an RF-signal from an optical pulse stream without amplitude-to-phase conversion. Extraction of a microwave signal with 3 fs timing jitter (from 1 Hz to 10 MHz) from an optical pulse stream is demonstrated. Scaling of this component to subfemtosecond resolution is discussed. Together with low noise mode-locked lasers, timing-stabilized optical fiber links and compact optical cross-correlators, a flexible femtosecond timing distribution system with potentially sub-10 fs precision over distances of a few kilometers can be constructed. Experimental results on both synchronized RF and laser sources will be presented.