Company Blog

Automating IQ Mixer Calibration on the HDIQ

03.02.2021

LO Leakage

As a crucial step in the bring-up of superconducting experiments, IQ mixer calibration normally requires multiple instruments from different parties and manual cabling work. This blog post describes how to use the Zurich Instruments HDIQ, HDAWG and UHFQA (or other UHF instruments) to automate IQ mixer calibration and: Simplify the...

Sensing Finger Movements with Impedance Measurements

19.01.2021

Fingers

Smart clothes, wearables and biosensors do not sound as futuristic as they used to. The development in this field of science and engineering is rapid and it is no longer a niche – as seen in the first or even second generation of such products hitting the market. Although there...

Fast Frequency Sweeps for Impedance Measurements

19.01.2021

Sweeper Trace

When characterizing a device or material as a function of frequency, the resulting spectrum may change with time as the environment or material itself evolves. This time evolution can be captured by taking sequential frequency sweeps with the LabOne Sweeper module on the MFIA or the MFLI. Each sweep requires...

Compensating Cables for Accurate Impedance Measurements

19.01.2021

MFITF attached to MFIA

Measuring impedance accurately can be a challenge, especially when the device or material under test is located some distance away from the impedance analyzer at the end of cables. The phase delay and parasitic impedance of the cables can significantly reduce the accuracy of a measurement. This blog post seeks...

Proximity Sensors – Inductive or Capacitive?

07.01.2021

Proximity Measurement

A proximity sensor is a sensor that detects nearby objects without physical contact [1]. They are commonly used, in applications ranging from production lines to modern mobile devices, mainly thanks to their non-contact configuration and the accompanying long lifetime. The working principle is simple...

How to Check the Input Noise Level of the MFLI

23.12.2020

MFLI Voltage Input Noise

How to check the input noise of an instrument? This blog demonstrated how to use LabOne to perform a test in a few steps.

如何查看 MFLI的仪器输入噪声水平？

23.12.2020

MFLI Voltage Input Noise

如何查看一台仪器的输入噪声水平？本文演示了如何使用LabOne仪器控制软件简单、快速的进行测试。

The Next Generation of Quantum Analyzers – SHFQA Launch Event

01.12.2020

SHFQA Launch Event

On September 1, we launched the second generation of our readout analyzers for superconducting and spin qubits - the SHFQA Quantum Analyzer. On November 17, we dedicated an hour-long event to provide you with the latest insights into the instrument, demonstrate key features and answer your questions. If you missed...

Function Generation Via Auxiliary Outputs on Your Instruments

26.11.2020

Function Generation

Introduction Quite often one wants to generate an electrical waveform to assist his or her lock-in or impedance measurements. Such a function can be generated by a dedicated function generator, but ideally should be produced by the same instrument, not only to save lab space but also to minimize the...

Von Transportmessungen in der Festkörperphysik zur Impendanzanalyse in der Elektrotechnik - Q&A

23.11.2020

Transportmessungen

Dieser Blog Post erscheint mit dem Webinar "Von Transportmessungen in der Festkörperphysik zur Impedanzanalyse in der Elektrotechnik". Im Anschluss möchte ich den Inhalt des Webinars kurz zusammenfassen und stelle auch die Folien zur Verfügung. Vor allem möchte ich mich bei allen Teilnehmern bedanken, auch für die, trotz der technischen Schwierigkeiten...

Focus on Recovering Signals in Optical Experiments - Q&A

23.11.2020

Recovering Signals

This blog post accompanies the webinar “Focus on signal processing in optical experiments". Thank you to everybody who joined the live event and participated actively by voting in the poll and asking so many relevant questions. The answers to all questions are provided at the end of this blog post...

Getting Additional Insights into Your Setup with the MF-DIG Option

08.11.2020

DIG Schematics

Lock-in amplifiers are at their best when rejecting the noise and increasing the signal-to-noise ratio. When the setup is well characterized the measurements are carried out at a single frequency and measured against external parameters. Throughout the measurement, detailed noise spectra reveal critical changes in the physics of the experiment...

Retrieving the Carrier Frequency of Phase-Modulated or Carrier-Suppressed Signals with Costas Loops

08.11.2020

Costas Loop

Phase-locked loops (PLLs) are widely used to recover the frequency of a carrier signal in many detection systems such as lock-in amplifiers and data receivers. To properly lock to the carrier phase and extract its frequency, a clean reference separate from the signal or a pilot tone within the signal must be provided for the PLL...

Boost Your SPM Applications - Q&A

19.10.2020

Boost SPM Webinar Screenshot

Following up on the webinar dedicated to Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) techniques, I'd like to post a short summary in this blog as well as answers to most questions raised during this event. The recording of this webinar can be found on the Zurich Instruments YouTube channel here...

Measuring Dielectric Properties of Materials with Varying Thickness

30.09.2020

MFIA Dielectrics

A dielectric is traditionally defined as an electrical insulator with very poor conductivity at DC. However, because of its polarizability, charges can be stored in a dielectric material, typically in the format of dipoles, in the low and medium AC frequency range.