High-Precision Optical Carrier Phase Measurement Technology Based on Two-Satellite Formation

The payload of laser ranging interferometer based on the two-satellite formation can on- orbit show numerous vital technologies in the space-based gravitational wave detection mission. In this mission, to realize the picometer-level precision in the inter-satellite displacement measurement, it is required to achieve the optical carrier phase measurement with an accuracy of better than 10(-6) cycle/Hz1/2 in the mHz frequency range. The sample jitter of the phase meter's analog-to-digital converter is the bottleneck limiting the precision of the phase measurement. By applying the techniques of pilot tone and clock side-band modulation, the sampling jitter noise could be suppressed in the data post-processing algorithm. The clock side- band modulation method towards time-delay interferometry in the three-satellite formation is extended to the two-satellite formation-based dual optical carrier phase measuring system. The systematic approach is proposed to suppress the sampling jitter noise in the optical carrier phase measurement considering the inter-satellite Doppler frequency shift. The technique could be applied in the next-generation earth gravitational detection mission to on-orbit demonstrate the phase meter technology towards space-based gravitational wave detection. Furthermore, it could be used in the high-precision inter-satellite laser time and frequency transfer mission, supporting the future global navigation satellite system.