Inputs/Outputs Tab¶

The In / Out tab provides access to the settings of the Instrument’s main signal generation functionalities. It is available on all SHFPPC Instruments.

Features¶

Pump tone signal output configuration
Probe tone signal output configuration

Description¶

The In / Out tab gives access to the configuration of the physical Pump Output port of the Instrument. The configurations of other physical ports, i.e. Signal Output, Signal Input and Pump Input, are not tunable and are not shown in the In/Out tab, see SHFPPC Functional Diagram.

Signal on Pump Output Port¶

The signal on Pump Output port can be configured to one of the three continuous signals, pump tone signal (pump tone "ON" only), pump tone and probe tone signal (both pump tone and probe tone "ON"), and probe tone signal (probe tone "ON" only). If a pump tone signal is enabled for one channel, the probe tone signal on the neighbor channel of the same channel pair (channel 1 and 2, channel 3 and 4) can not be enabled because they share the same synthesizer which can only be switched to one of the signal paths, see SHFPPC Functional Diagram.

Functional Elements¶

All settings are summarized in the Table below, and they are also accessible through the Device Node Tree.

Table 1: Input/Output Tab Settings.
Control/Tool	Option/Range	Description
Channel Mode	Pump, or Probe for neighbor channel	Displays current operation mode of the channel's synthesizer. "Pump": The synthesizer is configured for pump tone output. "Probe for ChN": The synthesizer is configured for providing a probe tone to the neighbor channel of the same channel pair.
Pump Tone
On	Enable/Disable	Enables/Disables the pump tone output. Note that if a pump tone in a channel is enabled, the probe tone on the neighbor channel of the same channel pair is disabled.
ALC	Enable/Disable	Enables/Disables automatic level control (ALC) for pump tone output. With ALC disabled, the maximum available pump tone output power is 2 - 6 dB lower compared to when ALC is enabled.
Filter	Enable/Disable	Enables the integrated low-pass filter on the pump tone output path. The filter cut-off frequency is automatically adjusted based on frequency of pump tone output.
Frequency (Hz)	2.5 - 12 GHz	Sets pump tone output frequency. The recommended frequency range is 4 - 12 GHz.
Power (dBm)	-20 dBm to 20 dBm	Sets pump tone output power level. The maximum pump tone output power level depends on pump tone frequency, see SHFPPC Specifications.
Range	Auto, Low, or High	Sets pump tone output power range mode. "Auto": The instrument automatically selects the range ("Low" or "High") based on requested pump tone output power. "Low": The instrument is configured for lower power output (-20 dBm to 0 dBm). "High": The instrument is configured for higher power output (0 dBm to 20 dBm).
Probe Tone
On	Enable/Disable	Enables/Disables probe tone output. Note that if a probe tone in a channel is enabled, the pump tone on the neighbor channel of the same channel pair is disabled.
Frequency (Hz)	2.5 - 10 GHz	Sets probe tone frequency. The recommended frequency range is 4 - 8.5 GHz.
Power (dBm)	Depending on pump tone power level	Sets probe tone output power. The configurable probe tone power depends on the configured pump tone power on the same channel, and it's typically at least 35 dB lower than the configured pump tone power. The configurable probe tone power is 35 - 50 dB lower than configured pump tone power on the same channel measured at a pump tone frequency of 6 GHz and a pump tone power of 10 dBm.