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18 Lock in Amplifiers
18 Lock in Amplifiers
http://www.lockin.de/
example: temperature (0.1 Hz) , pressure (1 Hz), acoustics (10 -- 100 Hz) example: shot noise, Johnson noise, spontaneous emission noise
log(Vnoise )
1/f noise
10 Hz
White noise
0.1
Noise amplitude
1/f noise
10 100 1kHz
Signal at 1 kHz
log( f )
log(Vnoise )
log(Vnoise )
White noise
1/f noise
White noise
10 Hz
0.1
10 100 1kHz
log( f )
0.1
10 100 1kHz
log( f )
Lock-in amplifiers
Shift signal out to higher frequencies Approach: Modulate signal, but not noise, at high freq Detect only at modulation frequency
no universal technique -- art example: optical chopper wheel, freq modulation Noise at all other frequencies averages to zero Use demodulator and low-pass filter
Demodulation / Mixing
Multiply input signal by sine wave Sum and difference freq generated Compare to signal addition -- interference Signal frequency close to reference freq
low freq beat DC for equal freq sine waves DC output level depends on relative phase
Product
Sum
1
Mixer outputs
noise slow compared to reference freq noise converted to slowly modulated sine wave averages out to zero over 1 cycle
Voltage
Reference time
6 db/oct
12 db/oct
log gain
18 db/oct frequency
Phase control
Reference has phase control Can vary from 0 to 360 Arbitrary input signal phase Tune reference phase to give maximum DC output
Mixer Input Output
Reference options
Option 1 -- Internal reference
best performance stable reference freq
System Signal Lock-in amplifier Mixer
Reference
VCO
PLL
Integrate
Analog mixer
Direct multiplication
accurate not enough dynamic range weak signal buried in noise Multiplying mixer
Switching mixer
big dynamic range but also demodulates harmonics Switching mixer
1/3
1/5
1/7
1/9
Digital mixers
Digitize input with DAC Multiply in processor Advantages:
Accurate sine wave multiplication No DC drift in low pass filters Digital signal enhancement
Problems:
Need 32 bit DAC for signals buried in noise Cannot digitize 32 bits at 100 kHz rates
F(x)
Input signal
Discriminant
use to lock
F(x)
V V
Mixer outputs
Maximum mixer output
modulation ~ 1 linewidth saturates and broadens
Fabry-Perot servo
Lock to peak transmission of high Q Fabry-Perot etalon Use lock-in amp to give discriminant No input bandpass -- or low Q < 2
Bandpass rolloff usually 2-pole or greater No low pass filter -- replace with integrator Low pass filter removes noise Need noise to produce correction Design tips
reference freq must exceed servo bandwidth by factor of ~ 10 but PZT bandwidth is servo limiter use PZT resonance for modulation
Fabry-Perot Laser
Acoustic noise
PD
LIA reference
Sum & HV