Synchronous detections or lock-in amplifiers are an essential part of research laboratories in fields such as optics and photonics, nanotechnology and materials science, local probe microscopy and sensors. As long as synchronous detection can extract very weak signals buried in noise, it is possible to discover new phenomena and extend the scope of experimental manipulations. The operating principle of synchronous detection, known as demodulation or phase-sensitive detection, is based on mixing the measured signal with a reference frequency, followed by low-pass filtering.
Opton Laser's partner, Zurich instruments, offers a wide range of synchronous detectors with different frequency ranges. The MFLI DC-500 kHz/5MHz, the HF2LI DC-50MHz and the UHFLI DC-600 MHz.
Two new synchronous detection products at GHz frequencies: The GHFLI DC-1.8 GHz and SHFLI DC-8.5 GHz.
The GHFLI and SHFLI each contain two physical inputs that function as two independent lock-ins. Each input is equipped with 4 demodulators for parallel multi-harmonic and multi-frequency analysis, and a 6 GSa/s signal generator for control and reference signals. Demodulator filters can be adjusted to obtain the best compromise between noise rejection and measurement speed. Digital USB and gigabit Ethernet interfaces enable continuous data transfer to the PC at up to 4 MSa/s, while 4 high-speed, high-precision auxiliary outputs convert measurement results, with custom scaling and offset, into analog signals for integration with other instruments.
All Zurich Instruments synchronous detectors are equipped with the LabOne user interface, which makes configuration easy and convenient thanks to its graphical user interface. This interface also allows control of the full range of measurement tools, which include lock-ins: a two-input oscilloscope with FFT, a real-time data plotter, a Daq module, a spectrum analyzer and a parametric sweeper. What's more, all functions and data acquisition are accessible via the main programming languages for easy integration: LabView, Matlab, C, .Net and Python are supported.