Lock-in Amplifiers

Setting Up the UHFLI Boxcar Averager for Pulsed Laser Experiments

21.06.2023

Boxcar averagers (sometimes also known with the name of “gated integrators”) are instruments used to measure signals stemming from low-duty-cycle experiments. The information contained in low-duty-cycle pulsed signals is concentrated within a short time duration; thus, the idea behind the boxcar averager is to record the signal only during the...

Piezoelectric Impedance: Measurement and Modeling

13.04.2023

Piezoelectric materials can produce electricity under mechanical stresses, and often find uses in both sensing and transducing applications. In this blog post, we focus on the electrical impedance measurement of piezoelectric materials, using an MFIA Impedance Analyzer (measuring the electrical response of piezoelectric devices often requires a charge integrator, which...

Understanding Timestamps and Their Importance for Synchronized Measurements

31.10.2022

Simultaneous measurement of multiple signals

Timing is extremely important to correlate the results from different experimental signals. In this blog post we will show how to work with timestamps from a Zurich Instruments lock-in amplifier when measuring multiple signals simultaneously.

Measure and Generate Periodic Microwave Signals: The GHFLI and SHFLI Launch Event

11.10.2022

https://www.zhinst.com/ch/en/ghfli-and-shfli

This blog post accompanies the online launch event of the GHFLI and SHFLI Lock-in Amplifiers, the trailblazers that bring state-of-the-art signal generation, analysis, and control to microwaves. Watch the recording and read the transcript of the Q&A to learn about the innovations brought by these new instruments and how they can help researchers and engineers.

How to Set up Lock-in Measurements in the Presence of Large Spurious Voltages

01.09.2022

Signal Inputs section of the Lock-in Tab in LabOne UI

Lock-in amplifiers are extremely versatile and used in a plethora of applications ranging from optics and photonics, nanotechnology, spm, and sensing, among others. In this blog, you will learn how to use the MFLI Lock-in Amplifier to carefully assess the experimental conditions and prepare your setup for the best measurement outcome.

Understanding the Sweep Duration in the LabOne Sweeper Module

31.08.2022

A fast sweep capability is often desired by researchers working on fast physical phenomena or short-lived samples, and may also be beneficial purely from a time-saving perspective. This blog post will elucidate the factors on which the sweep rate depends and guide you along several possible ways to make the...

How to Choose the Optimal Demodulator Data Transfer Rate

30.08.2022

Setting the data transfer rate in the UHFLI Lock-in Amplifier

The most beautiful measurement data is useless if it cannot be saved and analyzed. Choosing the data transfer rate from the instrument to the host computer wisely is important to capture the information of interest and avoid measurement artifacts. In this blog post, we will look at the data transfer concept of a Zurich Instruments lock-in amplifier in more detail and provide guidelines on how to choose it.

Discovering the MF-IA Impedance Analyzer Option

11.02.2022

This blog post introduces the MF-IA Impedance Analyzer option, which can be added to the MFLI Lock-in Amplifier to enhance it with the same impedance analyzer and precision LCR meter functionality as the MFIA Impedance Analyzer. Adding the MF-IA option to your MFLI gives you the ability to measure the...

How Does a Zurich Instruments Lock-In Amplifier Work?

07.02.2022

General architecture of a Zurich Instruments lock-in amplifier.

Have you ever wondered what is going on inside your Zurich Instruments lock-in amplifier? Lock-in amplifiers enable precise measurements of small signals buried in noise. While analog instruments have been used for decades, the development of analog-to-digital converters with high speed, resolution, and linearity has more recently enabled the realization...

Quantum Material Characterization for Streamlined Qubit Development

03.01.2022

In this webinar, we covered the material properties that are most important to consider when developing qubits with longer coherence times and looked into how to characterize these materials accurately and efficiently. By focusing on the fundamental properties of the materials, simpler fabrication methods and experimental setups can be used...