Functional Overview¶
This chapter provides the overview of the features provided by the UHF Instrument. The first section contains the description of the graphical overview and the hardware and software feature list. The next section details the front panel and the back panel of the measurement instrument. The following section provides product selection and ordering support.
Features¶
The UHF Instrument according to Figure 1 consists of several internal units (light blue color) surrounded by several interface units (dark blue color) and the front panel on the left-hand side and the back panel on the right-hand side. The arrows between the panels and the interface units indicates selected physical connections and the data direction flow.
The orange blocks are optional units that can be either ordered at the beginning or upgraded later. The UHF Series comprises two instrument types (UHFLI Lock-in Amplifier and UHFAWG Arbitrary Waveform Generator) based on the same internal hardware. Ordering Guide details the available upgrade options for each instrument type and whether the corresponding option can be upgraded directly in the field.
The signal to be measured is usually connected to one of the two UHF signal inputs where it is amplified to a defined range and digitized at very high speed. The resulting samples are fed into the digital signal processor consisting of 8 dual-phase demodulators . The output of the digital signal processor flow into a digital interface to be transferred to a host computer (LAN and USB interfaces) or are available on the auxiliary outputs on the front panel of the UHF Instrument . Two low-distortion UHF signal outputs provide the signal generator functionality for lock-in operation, or arbitrary waveform generator output.
The numerical oscillators generate sine and cosine signal pairs that are used for the demodulation of the input samples and also for the generation of the UHF output signals. For this purpose, the Output Adder can generate a linear combination of the oscillator outputs to generate a multi-frequency output signal: digital to analog conversion and signal scaling (range) are supported.
Hardware trigger and reference signals are used for various purposes inside the instrument, such as triggering demodulation, triggering oscilloscope data acquisition, or to generate external reference clocks or triggering signals to other equipment.
Lock-in Operating Modes
- Internal reference mode
- External reference mode
- Auto reference mode
- Dual-lock-in operation (two independent lock-in amplifiers in the same box)
- Triple-harmonic mode (simultaneous measurement at three harmonic frequencies)
- Arbitrary frequency mode (optional, simultaneous measurement at six arbitrary frequencies)
Ultra-high-frequency Signal Inputs
- 2 low-noise UHF inputs, single-ended, 600 MHz bandwidth
- Variable input range
- Switchable input impedance
- Selectable AC/DC coupling
Ultra-high-frequency Signal Outputs
- 2 low-distortion UHF outputs, single-ended, 600 MHz bandwidth
- Variable output range
Demodulators & Reference
- Up to 8 dual-phase demodulators
- Up to 8 programmable numerical oscillators
- Up to 2 external reference signals
- Up to 4 input and up to 4 output trigger signals
- Individually programmable demodulator filters
- 128-bit internal processing
- 64-bit resolution demodulator sample
- 48-bit internal reference resolution
AWG Features
- Sequencing and conditional branching
- Amplitude Modulation mode
- Parametric Sweeper
- High-level programming with LabOne AWG Sequencer
- 4-channel output mode
Auxiliary Input and Outputs
- 4 auxiliary outputs, user defined signals
- 2 auxiliary inputs, general purpose
High-speed Connectivity
- USB 2.0 high-speed 480 Mbit/s host interface
- LAN 1 Gbit/s controller interface
- DIO: 32-bit digital input-output port
- ZCtrl: 2 ports peripheral control
- Clock input connector (10 MHz)
- Clock output connector (10 MHz)
Extensive Time and Frequency Domain Analysis Tools
- Numeric tool
- Oscilloscope
- Frequency response analyzer
- FFT spectrum analyzer
- ZoomFFT spectrum analyzer
- Spectroscope
- Data Acquisition tool
Software Features
- Web-based, high-speed user interface with multi-instrument control
- Data server with multi-client support
- API for C, LabVIEW, MATLAB, Python based instrument programming
Front Panel Tour¶
The front panel BNC connectors and control LEDs are arranged as shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3 and listed in Table 1.
| Position | Label / Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| A | Signal Input 1 | single-ended UHF input |
| B | Signal Input 1 Over | this red LED indicates that the input signal saturates the A/D converter and therefore the input range must be increased or the signal must be attenuated |
| C | Signal Input 2 | single-ended UHF input |
| D | Signal Input 2 Over | this red LED indicates that the input signal saturates the A/D converter and therefore the input range must be increased or the signal must be attenuated |
| E | Signal Output 1 | single-ended UHF output |
| F | Signal Output 1 ON | this blue LED indicates that the signal output is actively driven by the instrument |
| G | Signal Output 2 | single-ended UHF output |
| H | Signal Output 2 ON | this blue LED indicates that the signal output is actively driven by the instrument |
| I | Ref / Trigger 1 | analog reference input, TTL reference output, AWG marker output, or bidirectional digital TTL trigger |
| J | Ref / Trigger 2 | analog reference input, TTL reference output, AWG marker output, or bidirectional digital TTL trigger |
| K | Aux Output 1 | this connector provides a user defined signal, often used to output lock-in signals X, Y, R, Θ, or to output AWG signals |
| L | Aux Output 2 | this connector provides a user defined signal, often used to output lock-in signals X, Y, R, Θ, or to output AWG signals |
| M | Aux Output 3 | this connector provides a user defined signal, often used to output lock-in signals X, Y, R, Θ, or to output AWG signals |
| N | Aux Output 4 | this connector provides a user defined signal, often used to output lock-in signals X, Y, R, Θ, or to output AWG signals |
| O | Power | this LED indicates that the instrument is powered |
| color blue: the device has an active connection over USB or Ethernet | ||
| color orange: indicates ready to connect. The device is ready for connection over USB or Ethernet. The internal auto calibration process is also indicated by an orange LED | ||
| color orange blinking: device is in start-up mode and waiting for an IP address. As long as the device does not have a dynamic IP address or does use its static default address a connection attempt over Ethernet will fail |
Back Panel Tour¶
The back panel is the main interface for power, control, service and connectivity to other ZI instruments. Please refer to Figure 4 and Table 2 for the detailed description of the items.
| Position | Label / Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| A | - | ventilator (important: keep clear from obstruction) |
| B | - | ventilator (important: keep clear from obstruction) |
| C | Power inlet | power inlet with ON/OFF switch |
| D | Earth ground | 4 mm banana jack connector for earth ground, electrically connected to the chassis and the earth pin of the power inlet |
| E | DIO | 32-bit digital input/output connector |
| F | X2 10GbE | 10 Gbit LAN connector |
| G | LAN 1GbE | 1 Gbit LAN connector |
| H | Clk 10 MHz In | clock input (10 MHz) for synchronization with other instruments |
| I | Clk 10 MHz Out | clock output (10 MHz) for synchronization with other instruments |
| J | USB | universal serial bus host computer connection |
| K | Trigger Out 3 | digital TTL trigger and AWG marker output - note: some UHF Instruments indicate Trigger 1 on the back panel instead of Trigger 3 |
| L | Trigger Out 4 | digital TTL trigger and AWG marker output - note: some UHF Instruments indicate Trigger 2 on the back panel instead of Trigger 4 |
| M | Trigger In 3 | digital trigger input - note: some UHF Instruments indicate Trigger 1 on the back panel instead of Trigger 3 |
| N | Trigger In 4 | digital trigger input - note: some UHF Instruments indicate Trigger 2 on the back panel instead of Trigger 4 |
| O | Aux In 1 | auxiliary input |
| P | Aux In 2 | auxiliary input |
| Q | ZCtrl 1 | peripheral pre-amplifier power & control bus. Attention: this is not an Ethernet plug, connection to an Ethernet network might damage the instrument |
| R | ZCtrl 2 | peripheral pre-amplifier power & control bus. Attention: this is not an Ethernet plug, connection to an Ethernet network might damage the instrument |
Signalling Pathways Diagram¶
The following diagram illustrates the UHFLI’s various signal inputs, signal outputs, functional blocks along with a selection of signalling pathways inside the instrument and towards the host computer.
Ordering Guide¶
The UHF Series is a product line comprising a digital lock-in amplifier UHFLI and an arbitrary waveform generator UHFAWG. Table 3 provides an overview of the available UHF products. Upgradeable features are options that can be purchased anytime without need to send the Instrument to Zurich Instruments.
| Product code | Product name | Description | Field upgrade possible |
|---|---|---|---|
| UHFLI | UHFLI Lock-in Amplifier | base lock-in amplifier | - |
| UHF-PID | UHF-PID Quad PID/PLL Controller | option | yes |
| UHF-DIG | UHF-DIG Digitizer | option | yes |
| UHF-MF | UHF-MF Multi-frequency | option | yes |
| UHF-MOD | UHF-MOD AM/FM Modulation | option | yes1 |
| UHF-BOX | UHF-BOX Boxcar Averager | option | yes |
| UHF-AWG | UHF-AWG Arbitrary Waveform Generator | option | yes |
| UHF-CNT | UHF-CNT Pulse Counter | option | yes |
| UHF-RUB | UHF-RUB Rubidium Atomic Clock | option | no |
| - | - | - | - |
| UHFAWG | UHFAWG Arbitrary Waveform Generator | base arbitrary waveform generator | yes |
| UHF-PID | UHF-PID Quad PID/PLL Controller | option | yes2 |
| UHF-DIG | UHF-DIG Digitizer | option | yes |
| UHF-MF | UHF-MF Multi-frequency | option | yes |
| UHF-MOD | UHF-MOD AM/FM Modulation | option | yes1,2 |
| UHF-BOX | UHF-BOX Boxcar Averager | option | yes |
| UHF-LIA | UHF-LIA Lock-in Amplifier | option | yes |
| UHF-CNT | UHF-CNT Pulse Counter | option | yes |
| UHF-RUB | UHF-RUB Rubidium Atomic Clock | option | no |
1 Requires UHF-MF Multi-frequency option
2 Requires UHF-LIA Lock-in Amplifier option
| Feature | UHFLI | UHFLI + UHF-MF | UHFLI + UHF-PID | UHFLI + UHF-MF + UHF-PID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internal reference mode | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| External reference mode | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Auto reference mode | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Dual-channel operation (2 independent measurement units) | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Signal generators | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Superposed output sinusoidals per generator | 1 | up to 8 | 1 | up to 8 |
| Quad-harmonic mode | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Multi-frequency mode | - | yes | - | yes |
| Arbitrary frequency mode | - | yes | - | yes |
| Number of demodulators | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Simultaneous frequencies | 2 | 8 | 2 | 8 |
| Simultaneous harmonics | 4+4 | - | 4+4 | - |
| External references | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| PID controllers | - | - | 4 | 4 |
| 600 MHz, 1.8 GSa/s | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Dynamic reserve | 100 dB | 100 dB | 100 dB | 100 dB |
| Lock-in range | 600 MHz | 600 MHz | 600 MHz | 600 MHz |
| USB 2.0 480 Mbit/s | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| LAN 1 Gbit/s | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Feature | UHFAWG | UHFAWG + UHF-MF | UHFAWG + UHF-LIA | UHFAWG + UHF-DIG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dual-channel AWG operation | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Sequencing | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Amplitude Modulation mode | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Direct Output mode | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| 4-channel output mode | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| External reference mode | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Signal generators | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Superposed sinusoidals per signal output (Amplitude Modulation mode) | 1 | up to 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Waveform memory | 128 MSa | 128 MSa | 128 MSa | 128 MSa |
| Scope channels | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Scope memory | 65 kSa | 65 kSa | 65 kSa | 128 MSa |
| Number of demodulators | - | - | 8 | - |
| 600 MHz, 1.8 GSa/s | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Frequency range | 600 MHz | 600 MHz | 600 MHz | 600 MHz |
| USB 2.0 480 Mbit/s | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| LAN 1 Gbit/s | yes | yes | yes | yes |