Stanford Research Systems SR830 Specifications Sheet

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DSP Lock-In Amplifier

model SR830

1290 D Reamwood Avenue

Sunnyvale, CA94089 USA

Phone: (408) 744-9040 • Fax: (408) 744-9049

www.thinkSRS.com •e-mail: info@thinkSRS.com

Revision 1.5 • 11/99

Stanford Research Systems

TABLE OF CONTENTS

GENERAL INFORMATION

Safety and Preparation for Use 1-3 Specifications 1-5 Abridged Command List 1-7

GETTING STARTED

Your First Measurements 2-1 The Basic Lock-in 2-3 X, Y, R and θ 2-7 Outputs, Offsets and Expands 2-9 Storing and Recalling Setups 2-13 Aux Outputs and Inputs 2-15

SR830 BASICS

What is a Lock-in Amplifier? 3-1 What Does a Lock-in Measure? 3-3 The SR830 Functional Diagram 3-5 Reference Channel 3-7 Phase Sensitive Detectors 3-9 Time Constants and DC Gain 3-11 DC Outputs and Scaling 3-13 Dynamic Reserve 3-15 Signal Input Amplifier and Filters 3-17 Input Connections 3-19 Intrinsic (Random) Noise Sources 3-21 External Noise Sources 3-23 Noise Measurements 3-25

OPERATION

Power On/Off and Power On Tests 4-1 Reset 4-1 [Keys] 4-1 Spin Knob 4-1 Front Panel BNC Connectors 4-2 Key Click On/Off 4-2 Front Panel Display Test 4-2 Display Off Operation 4-2 Keypad Test 4-3 Standard Settings 4-4

FRONT PANEL

Signal Input and Filters 4-5 Sensitivity, Reserve, Time Constants 4-7 CH1 Display and Output 4-12 CH2 Display and Output 4-15 Reference 4-18 Auto Functions 4-21 Setup 4-23 Interface 4-24 Warning Messages 4-26

REAR PANEL

Power Entry Module 4-27 IEEE-488 Connector 4-27 RS232 Connector 4-27 Aux Inputs (A/D Inputs) 4-27 Aux Outputs (D/A Outputs) 4-27 X and Y Outputs 4-27 Signal Monitor Output 4-28 Trigger Input 4-28 TTL Sync Output 4-28 Preamp Connector 4-28

Using SRS Preamps 4-29

PROGRAMMING

GPIB Communications 5-1 RS232 Communications 5-1 Status Indicators and Queues 5-1 Command Syntax 5-1 Interface Ready and Status 5-2 GET (Group Execute Trigger) 5-2

DETAILED COMMAND LIST 5-3 Reference and Phase 5-4 Input and Filter 5-5 Gain and Time Constant 5-6 Display and Output 5-8 Aux Input and Output 5-9 Setup 5-10 Auto Functions 5-11 Data Storage 5-12 Data Transfer 5-15 Interface 5-19 Status Reporting 5-20

STATUS BYTE DEFINITIONS

Serial Poll Status Byte 5-21 Service Requests 5-22 Standard Event Status Byte 5-22 LIA Status Byte 5-23 Error Status Byte 5-23

PROGRAM EXAMPLES

Microsoft C, Nationall Instr GPIB 5-25

USING SR530 PROGRAMS 5-31

Table of Contents

TESTING

Introduction 6-1 Preset 6-1 Serial Number 6-1 Firmware Revision 6-1 Test Record 6-1 If A Test Fails 6-1 Necessary Equipment 6-1 Front Panel Display Test 6-2 Keypad Test 6-2

PERFORMANCE TESTS

Self Tests 6-3 DC Offset 6-5 Common Mode Rejection 6-7 Amplitude Accuracy and Flatness 6-9 Amplitude Linearity 6-11 Frequency Accuracy 6-13 Phase Accuracy 6-15 Sine Output Amplitude 6-17 DC Outputs and Inputs 6-19 Input Noise 6-21

Performance Test Record 6-23

CIRCUITRY

Circuit Boards 7-1 CPU and Power Supply Board 7-3 DSP Logic Board 7-5 Analog Input Board 7-7

PARTS LISTS

DSP Logic Board 7-9 Analog Input Board 7-15 CPU and Power Supply Board 7-21 Front Panel Display Boards 7-24 Miscellaneous 7-30

SCHEMATIC DIAGRAMS

CPU and Power Supply Board Display Board Keypad Board DSP Logic Board Analog Input Board

SAFETY AND PREPARATION FOR USE

WARNING

Dangerous voltages, capable of causing injury or death, are present in this instrument. Use extreme caution whenever the instrument covers

are removed. Do not remove the covers while the unit is plugged into a live outlet.

CAUTION

This instrument may be damaged if operated with the LINE VOLTAGE SELECTOR set for the wrong AC line voltage or if the wrong fuse is installed.

LINE VOLTAGE SELECTION

The SR830 operates from a 100V, 120V, 220V, or 240V nominal AC power source having a line frequency of 50 or 60 Hz. Before connecting the power cord to a power source, verify that the LINE VOLTAGE SELECTOR card, located in the rear panel fuse holder, is set so that the correct AC input voltage value is visible.

Conversion to other AC input voltages requires a change in the fuse holder voltage card position and fuse value. Disconnect the power cord, open the fuse holder cover door and rotate the fuse-pull lever to remove the fuse. Remove the small printed circuit board and select the operating voltage by orienting the printed circuit board so that the desired voltage is visible when pushed firmly into its slot. Rotate the fuse-pull lever back into its normal position and insert the correct fuse into the fuse holder.

LINE FUSE

Verify that the correct line fuse is installed before connecting the line cord. For 100V/120V, use a 1 Amp fuse and for 220V/240V, use a 1/2 Amp fuse.

LINE CORD

The SR830 has a detachable, three-wire power cord for connection to the power source and to a protective ground. The exposed metal parts of the instrument are connected to the outlet ground to protect against electrical shock. Always use an outlet which has a properly connected protective ground.

SERVICE

Do not attempt to service or adjust this instrument unless another person, capable of providing first aid or resuscitation, is present.

Do not install substitute parts or perform any unauthorized modifications to this instrument. Contact the factory for instructions on how to return the instrument for authorized service and adjustment.

1-3

1-4

SR830 DSP LOCK-IN AMPLIFIER

SPECIFICATIONS

SIGNAL CHANNEL

Voltage Inputs Single-ended (A) or differential (A-B). Current Input 106 or 108 Volts/Amp. Full Scale Sensitivity 2 nV to 1 V in a 1-2-5-10 sequence (expand off). Input Impedance Voltage: 10 MΩ+25 pF, AC or DC coupled.

Current: 1 kΩ to virtual ground. Gain Accuracy ±1% from 20°C to 30°C (notch filters off). Input Noise 6 nV/√Hz at 1 kHz (typical). Signal Filters 60 (50) Hz and 120(100) Hz notch filters (Q=4). CMRR 90 dB at 100 Hz (DC Coupled). Dynamic Reserve Greater than 100 dB (with no signal filters). Harmonic Distortion -80 dB.

REFERENCE CHANNEL

Frequency Range 1 mHz to 102 kHz Reference Input TTL (rising or falling edge) or Sine.

Sine input is1 MΩ, AC coupled (>1 Hz). 400 mV pk-pk minimum signal. Phase Resolution 0.01° Absolute Phase Error <1° Relative Phase Error <0.01° Orthogonality 90° ± 0.001° Phase Noise External synthesized reference: 0.005° rms at 1 kHz, 100 ms, 12 dB/oct.

Internal reference: crystal synthesized, <0.0001° rms at 1 kHz. Phase Drift <0.01°/°C below 10 kHz

<0.1°/°C to 100 kHz Harmonic Detect Detect at Nxf where N<19999 and Nxf<102 kHz. Acquisition Time (2 cycles + 5 ms) or 40 ms, whichever is greater.

DEMODULATOR

Zero Stability Digital displays have no zero drift on all dynamic reserves.

Analog outputs: <5 ppm/°C for all dynamic reserves. Time Constants 10 µs to 30 s (reference > 200 Hz). 6, 12, 18, 24 dB/oct rolloff.

up to 30000 s (reference < 200 Hz). 6, 12, 18, 24 dB/oct rolloff.

Synchronous filtering available below 200 Hz. Harmonic Rejection -80 dB

INTERNAL OSCILLATOR

Frequency 1 mHz to 102 kHz. Frequency Accuracy 25 ppm + 30 µHz Frequency Resolution 4 1/2 digits or 0.1 mHz, whichever is greater. Distortion f<10 kHz, below -80 dBc. f>10 kHz, below -70 dBc.1 Vrms amplitude. Output Impedance 50 Ω Amplitude 4 mVrms to 5 Vrms (into a high impedance load) with 2 mV resolution.

(2 mVrms to 2.5 Vrms into 50Ω load). Amplitude Accuracy 1% Amplitude Stability 50 ppm/°C Outputs Sine output on front panel. TTL sync output on rear panel.

When using an external reference, both outputs are phase locked to the

external reference.

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SR830 DSP Lock-In Amplifier

DISPLAYS

Channel 1 4 1/2 digit LED display with 40 segment LED bar graph.

X, R, X Noise, Aux Input 1 or 2. The display can also be any of these quantities divided by Aux Input 1 or 2.

Channel 2 4 1/2 digit LED display with 40 segment LED bar graph.

Y, θ, Y Noise, Aux Input 3 or 4. The display can also be any of these

quantities divided by Aux Input 3 or 4. Offset X, Y and R may be offset up to ±105% of full scale. Expand X, Y and R may be expanded by 10 or 100. Reference 4 1/2 digit LED display.

Display and modify reference frequency or phase, sine output amplitude,

harmonic detect, offset percentage (X, Y or R), or Aux Outputs 1-4. Data Buffer 16k points from both Channel 1 and Channel 2 display may be stored

internally. The internal data sample rate ranges from 512 Hz down to 1

point every 16 seconds. Samples can also be externally triggered. The data

buffer is accessible only over the computer interface.

INPUTS AND OUTPUTS

Channel 1 Output Output proportional to Channel 1 display, or X.

Output Voltage: ±10 V full scale. 10 mA max output current. Channel 2 Output Output proportional to Channel 2 display, or Y.

Output Voltage: ±10 V full scale. 10 mA max output current. X and Y Outputs Rear panel outputs of cosine (X) and sine (Y) components.

Output Voltage: ±10 V full scale. 10 mA max output current. Aux. Outputs 4 BNC Digital to Analog outputs.

±10.5 V full scale, 1 mV resolution. 10 mA max output current. Aux. Inputs 4 BNC Analog to Digital inputs.

Differential inputs with1 MΩ input impedance on both shield and center

conductor. ±10.5 V full scale, 1 mV resolution. Trigger Input TTL trigger input triggers stored data samples. Monitor Output Analog output of signal amplifiers (before the demodulator).

GENERAL

Interfaces IEEE-488 and RS232 interfaces standard.

All instrument functions can be controlled through the IEEE-488 and RS232

interfaces. Preamp Power Power connector for SR550 and SR552 preamplifiers. Power 40 Watts, 100/120/220/240 VAC, 50/60 Hz. Dimensions 17"W x 5.25"H x 19.5"D Weight 30 lbs. Warranty One year parts and labor on materials and workmanship.

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SR830 DSP Lock-In Amplifier

COMMAND LIST

VARIABLES i,j,k,l,m Integers

f Frequency (real) x,y,z Real Numbers s String

REFERENCE and PHASE page description PHAS (?) {x} 5-4 Set (Query) the Phase Shift to x degrees. FMOD (?) {i} 5-4 Set (Query) the Reference Source to External (0) or Internal (1). FREQ (?) {f} 5-4 Set (Query) the Reference Frequency to f Hz.Set only in Internal reference mode. RSLP (?) {i} 5-4 Set (Query) the External Reference Slope to Sine(0), TTL Rising (1), or TTL Falling (2). HARM (?) {i} 5-4 Set (Query) the Detection Harmonic to 1 ≤ i ≤ 19999 and i•f ≤ 102 kHz. SLVL (?) {x} 5-4 Set (Query) the Sine Output Amplitude to x Vrms. 0.004 ≤ x ≤5.000.

INPUT and FILTER page description ISRC (?) {i} 5-5 Set (Query) the Input Configuration to A (0), A-B (1) , I (1 MΩ) (2) or I (100 MΩ) (3). IGND (?) {i} 5-5 Set (Query) the Input Shield Grounding to Float (0) or Ground (1). ICPL (?) {i} 5-5 Set (Query) the Input Coupling to AC (0) or DC (1). ILIN (?) {i} 5-5 Set (Query) the Line Notch Filters to Out (0), Line In (1) , 2xLine In (2), or Both In (3).

GAIN and TIME CONSTANT page description SENS (?) {i} 5-6 Set (Query) the Sensitivity to 2 nV (0) through 1 V (26) rms full scale. RMOD (?) {i} 5-6 Set (Query) the Dynamic Reserve Mode to HighReserve (0), Normal (1), or Low Noise (2). OFLT (?) {i} 5-6 Set (Query) the Time Constant to 10 µs (0) through 30 ks (19). OFSL (?) {i} 5-6 Set (Query) the Low Pass Filter Slope to 6 (0), 12 (1), 18 (2) or 24 (3) dB/oct. SYNC (?) {i} 5-7 Set (Query) the Synchronous Filter to Off (0) or On below 200 Hz (1).

DISPLAY and OUTPUT page description DDEF (?) i {, j, k} 5-8 Set (Query) the CH1 or CH2 (i=1,2) display to XY, Rθ, XnYn, Aux 1,3 or Aux 2,4 (j=0..4)

and ratio the display to None, Aux1,3 or Aux 2,4 (k=0,1,2). FPOP (?) i {, j} 5-8 Set (Query) the CH1 (i=1) or CH2 (i=2) Output Source to X or Y (j=1) or Display (j=0). OEXP (?) i {, x, j} 5-8 Set (Query) the X, Y, R (i=1,2,3) Offset to x percent ( -105.00 ≤ x ≤ 105.00)

and Expand to 1, 10 or 100 (j=0,1,2). AOFF i 5-8 Auto Offset X, Y, R (i=1,2,3).

AUX INPUT/OUTPUT page description OAUX ? i 5-9 Query the value of Aux Input i (1,2,3,4). AUXV (?) i {, x} 5-9 Set (Query) voltage of Aux Output i (1,2,3,4) to x Volts. -10.500 ≤ x ≤ 10.500.

SETUP page description OUTX (?) {i} 5-10 Set (Query) the Output Interface to RS232 (0) or GPIB (1). OVRM (?) {i} 5-10 Set (Query) the GPIB Overide Remote state to Off (0) or On (1). KCLK (?) {i} 5-10 Set (Query) the Key Click to Off (0) or On (1). ALRM (?) {i} 5-10 Set (Query) the Alarms to Off (0) or On (1). SSET i 5-10 Save current setup to setting buffer i (1≤i≤9). RSET i 5-10 Recall current setup from setting buffer i (1≤i≤9).

AUTO FUNCTIONS page description AGAN 5-11 Auto Gain function. Same as pressing the [AUTO GAIN] key. ARSV 5-11 Auto Reserve function. Same as pressing the [AUTO RESERVE] key. APHS 5-11 Auto Phase function. Same as pressing the [AUTO PHASE] key. AOFF i 5-11 Auto Offset X,Y or R (i=1,2,3).

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SR830 DSP Lock-In Amplifier

DATA STORAGE page description SRAT (?) {i} 5-13 Set (Query) the DataSample Rate to 62.5 mHz (0) through 512 Hz (13) or Trigger (14). SEND (?) {i} 5-13 Set (Query) the Data Scan Mode to 1 Shot (0) or Loop (1). TRIG 5-13 Software trigger command. Same as trigger input. TSTR (?) {i} 5-13 Set (Query) the Trigger Starts Scan modeto No (0) or Yes (1). STRT 5-13 Start or continue a scan. PAUS 5-13 Pause a scan. Does not reset a paused or done scan. REST 5-14 Reset the scan. All stored data is lost.

DATA TRANSFER page description OUTP? i 5-15 Query the value of X (1), Y (2), R (3) or θ (4). Returns ASCII floating point value. OUTR? i 5-15 Query the value of Display i (1,2). Returns ASCII floating point value. SNAP?i,j{,k,l,m,n} 5-15 Query the value of 2 thru 6 paramters at once. OAUX? i 5-16 Query the value of Aux Input i (1,2,3,4). Returns ASCII floating point value. SPTS? 5-16 Query the number of points stored in Display buffer. TRCA? i,j,k 5-16 Read k≥1 points starting at bin j≥0 from Display i (1,2) buffer in ASCII floating point. TRCB? i,j,k 5-16 Read k≥1 points starting at bin j≥0 from Display i (1,2) buffer in IEEE binary floating point. TRCL? i,j,k 5-17 Read k≥1 points starting at bin j≥0 from Display i (1,2) buffer in non-normalized binary floating

point.

FAST (?) {i} 5-17 Set (Query) Fast Data Transfer Mode On (1) or Off (0).On will transfer binary X and Y every

sample during a scan over the GPIB interface.

STRD 5-18 Start a scan after 0.5sec delay. Use with Fast Data Transfer Mode. INTERFACE page description

❋RST 5-19 Reset the unit to its default configurations. ❋IDN? 5-19 Read the SR830 device identification string.

LOCL(?) {i} 5-19 Set (Query) the Local/Remote state to LOCAL (0), REMOTE (1), or LOCAL LOCKOUT (2). OVRM (?) {i} 5-19 Set (Query) the GPIB Overide Remote state to Off (0) or On (1). TRIG 5-19 Software trigger command. Same as trigger input.

STATUS page description

❋CLS 5-20 Clear all status bytes. ❋ESE (?) {i} {,j} 5-20 Set (Query) the Standard Event Status Byte Enable Register to the decimal value i (0-255).

❋ESE i,j sets bit i (0-7) to j (0 or 1). ❋ESE? queries the byte. ❋ESE?i queries only bit i. ❋ESR? {i} 5-20 Query the Standard Event Status Byte. If i is included, only bit i is queried. ❋SRE (?) {i} {,j} 5-20 Set (Query) the Serial Poll Enable Register to the decimal value i (0-255). ❋SRE i,j sets bit i (0-

7) to j (0 or 1). ❋SRE? queries the byte, ❋SRE?i queries only bit i. ❋STB? {i} 5-20 Query the Serial Poll Status Byte. If i is included, only bit i is queried. ❋PSC (?) {i} 5-20 Set (Query) the Power On Status Clear bit to Set (1) or Clear (0).

ERRE (?) {i} {,j} 5-20 Set (Query) the Error Status Enable Register to the decimal value i (0-255). ERRE i,j sets bit i

(0-7) to j (0 or 1). ERRE? queries the byte, ERRE?i queries only bit i. ERRS? {i} 5-20 Query the Error Status Byte. If i is included, only bit i is queried. LIAE (?) {i} {,j} 5-20 Set (Query) the LIA Status Enable Register to the decimal value i (0-255). LIAE i,j sets

bit i (0-7) to j (0 or 1). LIAE? queries the byte, LIAE?i queries only bit i. LIAS? {i} 5-20 Query the LIA Status Byte. If i is included, only bit i is queried.

1-8

STATUS BYTE DEFINITIONS

SR830 DSP Lock-In Amplifier

SERIAL POLL STATUS BYTE (5-21)

bit name usage 0 SCN No data is being acquired 1 IFC No command execution in progress 2 ERR Unmasked bit in error status byte set 3 LIA Unmasked bit in LIA status byte set 4 MAV The interface output buffer is non-empty 5 ESB Unmasked bit in standard status byte set 6 SRQ SRQ (service request) has occurred 7 Unused

STANDARD EVENT STATUS BYTE (5-22)

bit name usage 0 INP Set on input queue overflow 1 Unused 2 QRY Set on output queue overflow 3 Unused 4 EXE Set when command execution error occurs 5 CMD Set when an illegal command is received 6 URQ Set by any key press or knob rotation 7 PON Set by power-on

LIA STATUS BYTE (5-23)

bit name usage 0 RSRV/INPT Set when on RESERVE or INPUT overload 1 FILTR Set when on FILTR overload 2 OUTPT Set when on OUTPT overload 3 UNLK Set when on reference unlock 4 RANGE Set when detection freq crosses 200 Hz 5 TC Set when time constant is changed 6 TRIG Set when unit is triggered 7 Unused

ERROR STATUS BYTE (5-23)

bit name usage 0 Unused 1 Backup Error Set when battery backup fails 2 RAM Error Set when RAM Memory test finds an error 3 Unused 4 ROM Error Set when ROM Memory test finds an error 5 GPIB Error Set when GPIB binary data transfer aborts 6 DSP Error Set when DSP test finds an error 7 Math Error Set when an internal math error occurs

1-9

SR830 DSP Lock-In Amplifier

1-10

GETTING STARTED

YOUR FIRST MEASUREMENTS

The sample measurements described in this section are designed to acquaint the first time user with the SR830 DSP Lock-In Amplifier. Do not be concerned that your measurements do not exactly agree with these exercises. The focus of these measurement exercises is to learn how to use the instrument.

It is highly recommended that the first time user step through some or all of these exercises before attempting to perform an actual experiment.

The experimental procedures are detailed in two columns. The left column lists the actual steps in the experiment. The right column is an explanation of each step.

[Keys] Front panel keys are referred to in brackets such as [Display] where

'Display' is the key label.

Knob The knob is used to adjust parameters which are displayed in the

Reference display.

2-1

Getting Started

2-2

The Basic Lock-in

THE BASIC LOCK-IN

This measurement is designed to use the internal oscillator to explore some of the basic lock-in functions. You will need BNC cables.

Specifically, you will measure the amplitude of the Sine Out at various frequencies, sensitivities, time constants and phase shifts.

1. Disconnect all cables from the lock-in. Turn the power on while holding down the [Setup] key. Wait until the power-on tests are completed.

2. Connect the Sine Out on the front panel to the A input using a BNC cable.

When the power is turned on with the [Setup] key pressed, the lock-in returns to its standard default settings. See the Standard Settings list in the Operation section for a complete listing of the settings.

The Channel 1 display shows X and Channel 2 shows Y.

The lock-in defaults to the internal oscillator reference set at 1.000 kHz. The reference mode is indicated by the INTERNAL led. In this mode, the lock-in generates a synchronous sine output at the internal reference frequency.

The input impedance of the lock-in is 10 MΩ. The Sine Out has an output impedance of 50Ω. Since the Sine Output amplitude is specified into a high impedance load, the output impedance does not affect the amplitude.

The sine amplitude is 1.000 Vrms and the sensitivity is 1 V(rms). Since the phase shift of the sine output is very close to zero, Channel 1 (X) should read close to 1.000 V and Channel 2 (Y) should read close to 0.000 V.

3. Press [Auto Phase]

4. Press [Phase]

5. Press the [+90°] key.

Automatically adjust the reference phase shift to eliminate any residual phase error. This should set the value of Y to zero.

Display the reference phase shift in the Reference display. The phase shift should be close to zero.

This adds 90° to the reference phase shift. The value of X drops to zero and Y becomes minus the magnitude (-1.000 V).

2-3

The Basic Lock-in

Use the knob to adjust the phase shift until Y is zero and X is equal to the positive amplitude.

Press [Auto Phase]

6. Press [Freq]

Use the knob to adjust the frequency to 10 kHz.

Use the knob to adjust the frequency back to 1 kHz.

The knob is used to adjust parameters which are shown in the Reference display, such as phase, amplitude and frequency. The final phase value should be close to zero again.

Use the Auto Phase function to return Y to zero and X to the amplitude.

Show the internal oscillator frequency in the Reference display.

The knob now adjusts the frequency. The measured signal amplitude should stay within 1% of 1 V and the phase shift should stay close to zero (the value of Y should stay close to zero).

The internal oscillator is crystal synthesized with 25 ppm of frequency error. The frequency can be set with 4 1/2 digit or 0.1 mHz resolution, whichever is greater.

7. Press [Ampl]

Use the knob to adjust the amplitude to

0.01 V.

8. Press [Auto Gain]

9. Press [Sensitivity Up] to select 50 mV full scale.

Change the sensitivity back to 20 mV.

10. Press [Time Constant Down] to change the time constant to 300 µs.

Show the sine output amplitude in the Reference display.

As the amplitude is changed, the measured value of X should equal the sine output amplitude. The sine amplitude can be set from 4 mV to 5 V rms into high impedance (half the amplitude into a 50 Ω load).

The Auto Gain function will adjust the sensitivity so that the measured magnitude (R) is a sizable percentage of full scale. Watch the sensitivity indicators change.

Parameters which have many options, such as sensitivity and time constant, are changed with up and down keys. The sensitivity and time constant are indicated by leds.

The values of X and Y become noisy. This is because the 2f component of the output (at 2 kHz) is no longer attenuated completely by the low pass filters.

Press [Time Constant Up] to change the time constant to 3 ms.

Let's leave the time constant short and change the filter slope.

2-4

11. Press the [Slope/Oct] key until 6 dB/oct is

selected.

The Basic Lock-in

Parameters which have only a few values, such as filter slope, have only a single key which cycles through all available options. Press the corresponding key until the desired option is indicated by an led.

The X and Y outputs are somewhat noisy at this short time constant and only 1 pole of low pass filtering.

The outputs are less noisy with 2 poles of filtering. Press [Slope/Oct] again to select 12 dB/oct. Press [Slope/Oct] twice to select 24 db/oct.

Press [Slope/Oct] again to select 6 db/oct.

12. Press [Freq]

Use the knob to adjust the frequency to

55.0 Hz.

13. Press [Sync Filter]

With 4 poles of low pass filtering, even this short

time constant attenuates the 2f component rea-

sonably well and provides steady readings.

Let's leave the filtering short and the outputs noisy

for now.

Show the internal reference frequency on the

Reference display.

At a reference frequency of 55 Hz and a 6 db/oct,

3 ms time constant, the output is totally dominated

by the 2f component at 100 Hz.

This turns on synchronous filtering whenever the

detection frequency is below 200 Hz.

Synchronous filtering effectively removes output

components at multiples of the detection frequen-

cy. At low frequencies, this filter is a very effective

way to remove 2f without using extremely long

time constants.

The outputs are now very quiet and steady, even

though the time constant is very short. The

response time of the synchronous filter is equal to

the period of the detection frequency (18 ms in this

case).

This concludes this measurement example. You

should have a feeling for the basic operation of the

front panel. Basic lock-in parameters have been

introduced and you should be able to perform

simple measurements.

2-5

The Basic Lock-in

2-6

X, Y, R and θ

This measurement is designed to use the internal oscillator and an external signal source to explore some of the display types. You will need a synthesized function generator capable of providing a 100 mVrms sine wave at 1.000 kHz (the DS335 from SRS will suffice), BNC cables and a terminator appropriate for the generator function output.

Specifically, you will display the lock-in outputs when measuring a signal close to, but not equal to, the internal reference frequency. This setup ensures changing outputs which are more illustrative than steady outputs.

The displays will be configured to show X, Y, R and θ.

1. Disconnect all cables from the lock-in. Turn the power on while holding down the [Setup] key. Wait until the power-on tests are completed.

2. Turn on the function generator, set the frequency to 1.0000 kHz (exactly) and the amplitude to 500 mVrms.

Connect the function output (sine wave) from the synthesized function generator to the A input using a BNC cable and appropriate terminator.

When the power is turned on with the [Setup] key pressed, the lock-in returns to its standard settings. See the Standard Settings list in the Operation section for a complete listing of the settings.

The Channel 1 display shows X and Channel 2 shows Y.

The input impedance of the lock-in is 10 MΩ. The generator may require a terminator. Many generators have either a 50Ω or 600Ω output impedance. Use the appropriate feedthrough or T termination if necessary. In general, not using a terminator means that the function output amplitude will not agree with the generator setting.

The lock-in defaults to the internal oscillator reference set at 1.000 kHz. The reference mode is indicated by the INTERNAL led. In this mode, the internal oscillator sets the detection frequency.

The internal oscillator is crystal synthesized so that the actual reference frequency should be very close to the actual generator frequency. The X and Y displays should read values which change very slowly. The lock-in and the generator are not phase locked but they are at the same frequency with some slowly changing phase.

3. Press [Freq]

Use the knob to change the frequency to

999.8 Hz.

Show the internal oscillator frequency on the Reference display.

By setting the lock-in reference 0.2 Hz away from the signal frequency, the X and Y outputs are

0.2 Hz sine waves (frequency difference between reference and signal). The X and Y output displays

2-7

X, Y, R and θ

should now oscillate at about 0.2 Hz (the accuracy is determined by the crystals of the generator and the lock-in).

4. Press [Channel 1 Display] to select R.

5. Press [Channel 2 Display] to select θ.

6. Press [Freq] Use the knob to adjust the frequency slowly to

try to stop the rotation of the phase.

7. Use a BNC cable to connect the TTL SYNC output from the generator to the Reference Input of the lock-in.

The default Channel 1 display is X. Change the display to show R. R is phase independent so it shows a steady value (close to 0.500 V).

The default Channel 2 display is Y. Change the display to show θ. The phase between the reference and the signal changes by 360° approximately every 5 sec (0.2 Hz difference frequency).

The bar graph in this case is scaled to ±180°. The bar graph should be a linear phase ramp at

0.2 Hz.

Show the internal oscillator frequency. As the internal reference frequency gets closer to

the signal frequency, the phase rotation gets slower and slower. If the frequencies are EXACTLY equal, then the phase is constant.

By using the signal generator as the external reference, the lock-in will phase lock its internal oscillator to the signal frequency and the phase will be a constant.

Press [Source] to turn the INTERNAL led off.

Press [Trig] to select POS EDGE.

Select external reference mode. The lock-in will phase lock to the signal at the Reference Input.

With a TTL reference signal, the slope needs to be set to either rising or falling edge.

The phase is now constant. The actual phase depends upon the phase difference between the function output and the sync output from the generator.

The external reference frequency (as measured by the lock-in) is displayed on the Reference display. The UNLOCK indicator should be OFF (successfully locked to the external reference).

The displays may be stored in the internal data buffers at a programmable sampling rate. This allows storage of 16000 points of both displays.

2-8

Outputs, Offsets and Expands

OUTPUTS, OFFSETS and EXPANDS

This measurement is designed to use the internal oscillator to explore some of the basic lock-in outputs. You will need BNC cables and a digital voltmeter (DVM).

Specifically, you will measure the amplitude of the Sine Out and provide analog outputs proportional to the measurement. The effect of offsets and expands on the displayed values and the analog outputs will be explored.

1. Disconnect all cables from the lock-in. Turn

the power on while holding down the [Setup] key. Wait until the power-on tests are completed.

2. Connect the Sine Out on the front panel to the

A input using a BNC cable.

When the power is turned on with the [Setup] key pressed, the lock-in returns to its standard settings. See the Standard Settings list in the Operation section for a complete listing of the settings.

The Channel 1 display shows X and Channel 2 shows Y.

3. Connect the CH1 OUTPUT on the front panel

to the DVM. Set the DVM to read DC Volts.

4. Press [Ampl]

Use the knob to adjust the sine amplitude to

0.5 V.

The CH1 output defaults to X. The output voltage is simply (X/Sensitivity - Offset)xExpandx10V. In this case, X = 1.000 V, the sensitivity = 1 V, the offset is zero percent and the expand is 1. The output should thus be 10 V or 100% of full scale.

Display the sine output amplitude. Set the amplitude to 0.5 V. The Channel 1 display

should show X=0.5 V and the CH1 output voltage should be 5 V on the DVM (1/2 of full scale).

2-9

Outputs, Offsets and Expands

5. Press [Channel 1 Auto Offset]

X, Y and R may all be offset and expanded separately. Since Channel 1 is displaying X, the OFFSET and [Expand] keys below the Channel 1 display set the X offset and expand. The display determines which quantity (X or R) is offset and expanded.

Auto Offset automatically adjusts the X offset (or Y or R) such that X (or Y or R) becomes zero. In this case, X is offset to zero. The offset should be about 50%. Offsets are useful for making relative measurements. In analog lock-ins, offsets were generally used to remove DC output errors from the lock-in itself. The SR830 has no DC output errors and the offset is not required for most measurements.

The offset affects both the displayed value of X and any analog output proportional to X. The CH1 output voltage should be zero in this case.

The Offset indicator turns on at the bottom of the Channel 1 display to indicate that the displayed quantity is affected by an offset.

Press [Channel 1 Offset Modify]

Use the knob to adjust the X offset to 40.0%

Press [Channel 1 Expand] to select x10.

Show the Channel 1 (X) offset in the Reference display.

Change the offset to 40% of full scale. The output offsets are a percentage of full scale. The percentage does not change with the sensitivity. The displayed value of X should be 0.100 V (0.5 V - 40% of full scale). The CH1 output voltage is (X/Sensitivity - Offset)xExpandx10V.

CH1 Out = (0.5/1.0 - 0.4)x1x10V = 1 V With an expand of 10, the display has one more

digit of resolution (100.00 mV full scale). The Expand indicator turns on at the bottom of the

Channel 1 display to indicate that the displayed quantity is affected by a non-unity expand.

The CH1 output is (X/Sensitivity - Offset)xExpandx10V. In this case, the output voltage is

CH1 Out = (0.5/1.0 - 0.4)x10x10V = 10V The expand allows the output gain to be increased

by up to 100. The output voltage is limited to

10.9 V and any output which tries to be greater will

2-10

Outputs, Offsets and Expands

turn on the OVLD indicator in the Channel 1 display.

With offset and expand, the output voltage gain and offset can be programmed to provide control of feedback signals with the proper bias and gain for a variety of situations.

Offsets add and subtract from the displayed values while expand increases the resolution of the display.

6. Connect the DVM to the X output on the rear

panel.

7. Connect the DVM to the CH1 OUTPUT on the

front panel again.

Press [Channel 1 Output] to select Display.

Press [Channel 1 Display] to select R.

The X and Y outputs on the rear panel always provide voltages proportional to X and Y (with offset and expand). The X output voltage should be 10 V, just like the CH1 output.

The front panel outputs can be configured to output different quantities while the rear panel outputs always output X and Y.

NOTE: Outputs proportional to X and Y (rear panel, CH1 or CH2) have 100 kHz of bandwidth. The CH1 and CH2 outputs, when configured to be proportional to the displays (even if the display is X or Y) are updated at 512 Hz and have a 200 Hz bandwidth. It is important to keep this in mind if you use very short time constants.

CH1 OUTPUT can be proportional to X or the display. Choose Display. The display is X so the CH1 output should remain 10.0 V (but its bandwidth is only 200 Hz instead of 100 kHz).

Let's change CH1 to output R. The X and Y offset and expand functions are

output functions, they do NOT affect the calculation of R or θ. Thus, Channel 1 (R) should be 0.5V and the CH1 output voltage should be 5V (1/2 of full scale).

The Channel 1 offset and expand keys now set the R offset and expand. The X offset and expand are still set at 40% and x10 as reflected at the rear panel X output.

See the DC Outputs and Scaling discussion in the Lock-In Basics section for more detailed information on output scaling.

2-11

Outputs, Offsets and Expands

2-12

Storing and Recalling Setups

STORING and RECALLING SETUPS

The SR830 can store 9 complete instrument setups in non-volatile memory.

1. Turn the lock-in on while holding down the

[Setup] key. Wait until the power-on tests are completed. Disconnect any cables from the lock-in.

2. Press [Sensitivity Down] to select 100 mV.

Press [Time Constant Up] to select 1 S.

3. Press [Save]

Use the knob to select setup number 3. Press [Save] again.

When the power is turned on with the [Setup] key pressed, the lock-in returns to its standard settings. See the Standard Settings list in the Operation section for a complete listing of the settings.

Change the lock-in setup so that we have a nondefault setup to save.

Change the sensitivity to 100 mV. Change the time constant to 1 second.

The Reference display shows the setup number (1-9).

The knob selects the setup number. Press [Save] again to complete the save opera-

tion. Any other key aborts the save. The current setup is now saved as setup number

4. Turn the lock-in off and on while holding down

the [Setup] key. Wait until the power-on tests are complete.

5. Press [Recall]

Use the knob to select setup number 3. Press [Recall] again.

Change the lock-in setup back to the default setup. Now let's recall the lock-in setup that we just saved.

Check that the sensitivity and time constant are 1V and 100 ms (default values).

The Reference display shows the setup number. The knob selects the setup number. Press [Recall] again to complete the recall opera-

tion. Any other key aborts the recall. The sensitivity and time constant should be the

same as those in effect when the setup was saved.

2-13

Storing and Recalling Setups

2-14

Aux Outputs and Inputs

AUX OUTPUTS and INPUTS

This measurement is designed to illustrate the use of the Aux Outputs and Inputs on the rear panel. You will need BNC cables and a digital voltmeter (DVM).

Specifically, you will set the Aux Output voltages and measure them with the DVM. These outputs will then be connected to the Aux Inputs to simulate external DC voltages which the lock-in can measure.

1. Disconnect all cables from the lock-in. Turn

the power on while holding down the [Setup] key. Wait until the power-on tests are completed.

2. Connect Aux Out 1 on the rear panel to the

DVM. Set the DVM to read DC volts.

3. Press [Aux Out] until the Reference display

shows the level of Aux Out 1( as indicated by the AxOut1 led below the display).

Use the knob to adjust the level to 10.00 V.

Use the knob to adjust the level to -5.00 V.

When the power is turned on with the [Setup] key pressed, the lock-in returns to its standard settings. See the Standard Settings list in the Operation section for a complete listing of the settings.

The 4 Aux Outputs can provide programmable voltages between -10.5 and +10.5 volts. The outputs can be set from the front panel or via the computer interface.

Show the level of Aux Out 1 on the Reference display.

Change the output to 10V. The DVM should display 10.0 V.

Change the output to -5V. The DVM should display -5.0 V.

The 4 outputs are useful for controlling other parameters in an experiment, such as pressure, temperature, wavelength, etc.

4. Press [Channel 1 Display] to select AUX IN 1.

5. Disconnect the DVM from Aux Out 1. Connect

AuxOut 1 to Aux In 1 on the rear panel.

Change the Channel 1 display to measure Aux Input 1.

The Aux Inputs can read 4 analog voltages. These inputs are useful for monitoring and measuring other parameters in an experiment, such as pressure, temperature, position, etc.

We'll use Aux Out 1 to provide an analog voltage to measure.

Channel 1 should now display -5 V (Aux In 1).

2-15

Aux Outputs and Inputs

6. Press [Channel 2 Display] to select AUX IN 3.

7. Connect Aux Out 1 to Aux In 3 on the rear panel.

Change the Channel 2 display to measure Aux Input 3.

Channel 2 should now display -5 V (Aux In 3). The Channel 1 and 2 displays may be ratio'ed to

the Aux Input voltages. See the Basics section for more about output scaling.

The displays may be stored in the internal data buffers at a programmable sampling rate. This allows storage of not only the lock-in outputs, X,Y, R or θ, but also the values of the Aux Inputs. See the Programming section for more details.

2-16

WHAT IS A LOCK-IN AMPLIFIER?

SR830 BASICS

Lock-in amplifiers are used to detect and measure very small AC signals - all the way down to a few nanovolts! Accurate measurements may be made even when the small signal is obscured by noise sources many thousands of times larger.

Lock-in amplifiers use a technique known as phase-sensitive detection to single out the component of the signal at a specific reference frequency AND phase. Noise signals at frequencies other than the reference frequency are rejected and do not affect the measurement.

Why use a lock-in?

Let's consider an example. Suppose the signal is a 10 nV sine wave at 10 kHz. Clearly some amplification is required. A good low noise amplifier will have about 5 nV/√Hz of input noise. If the amplifier bandwidth is 100 kHz and the gain is 1000, then we can expect our output to be 10 µV of signal (10 nV x 1000) and 1.6 mV of broadband noise (5 nV/√Hz x √100 kHz x 1000). We won't have much luck measuring the output signal unless we single out the frequency of interest.

If we follow the amplifier with a band pass filter with a Q=100 (a VERY good filter) centered at 10 kHz, any signal in a 100 Hz bandwidth will be detected (10 kHz/Q). The noise in the filter pass band will be 50 µV (5 nV/√Hz x √100 Hz x 1000) and the signal will still be 10 µV. The output noise is much greater than the signal and an accurate measurement can not be made. Further gain will not help the signal to noise problem.

Now try following the amplifier with a phasesensitive detector (PSD). The PSD can detect the signal at 10 kHz with a bandwidth as narrow as

0.01 Hz! In this case, the noise in the detection bandwidth will be only 0.5 µV (5 nV/√Hz x √.01 Hz x 1000) while the signal is still 10 µV. The signal to noise ratio is now 20 and an accurate measurement of the signal is possible.

What is phase-sensitive detection?

Lock-in measurements require a frequency reference. Typically an experiment is excited at a fixed frequency (from an oscillator or function generator) and the lock-in detects the response from the

experiment at the reference frequency. In the diagram below, the reference signal is a square wave at frequency ωr. This might be the sync output from a function generator. If the sine output from the function generator is used to excite the experiment, the response might be the signal waveform shown below. The signal is V where V

The SR830 generates its own sine wave, shown as the lock-in reference below. The lock-in reference is VLsin(ωLt + θ

The SR830 amplifies the signal and then multiplies it by the lock-in reference using a phase-sensitive detector or multiplier. The output of the PSD is simply the product of two sine waves.

psd

The PSD output is two AC signals, one at the difference frequency (ωr - ωL) and the other at the sum frequency (ωr + ωL).

If the PSD output is passed through a low pass filter, the AC signals are removed. What will be left? In the general case, nothing. However, if ω equals ωL, the difference frequency component will be a DC signal. In this case, the filtered PSD output will be

psd

is the signal amplitude.

sig

Reference

Signal

Lock-in Reference

= V = 1/2 V

= 1/2 V

sigVL

1/2 V

sin(ωrt + θ

cos([ωr - ωL]t + θ

sigVL

cos([ωr + ωL]t + θ

sigVL

cos(θ

sigVL

ref

sig

ref

sig

)sin(ωLt + θ

- θ

ref

sig

)

sin(ωrt + θ

)

ref

- θ + θ

ref

) -

ref

sig

)

3-1

SR830 Basics

This is a very nice signal - it is a DC signal proportional to the signal amplitude.

Narrow band detection

Now suppose the input is made up of signal plus noise. The PSD and low pass filter only detect signals whose frequencies are very close to the lockin reference frequency. Noise signals at frequencies far from the reference are attenuated at the PSD output by the low pass filter (neither ω

ref

nor ω

noise+ωref

are close to DC). Noise at fre-

noise

quencies very close to the reference frequency will result in very low frequency AC outputs from the PSD (|ω

noise-ωref

| is small). Their attenuation depends upon the low pass filter bandwidth and roll-off. A narrower bandwidth will remove noise sources very close to the reference frequency, a wider bandwidth allows these signals to pass. The low pass filter bandwidth determines the bandwidth of detection. Only the signal at the reference frequency will result in a true DC output and be unaffected by the low pass filter. This is the signal we want to measure.

Where does the lock-in reference come from?

We need to make the lock-in reference the same as the signal frequency, i.e. ωr = ωL. Not only do the frequencies have to be the same, the phase between the signals can not change with time, otherwise cos(θ be a DC signal. In other words, the lock-in reference needs to be phase-locked to the signal reference.

sig

- θ

) will change and V

ref

psd

will not

sync) which is always phase-locked to the reference oscillator.

Magnitude and phase

Remember that the PSD output is proportional to V

cosθ where θ = (θ

sig

difference between the signal and the lock-in reference oscillator. By adjusting θ equal to zero, in which case we can measure V

(cosθ=1). Conversely, if θ is 90°, there will be no output at all. A lock-in with a single PSD is called a single-phase lock-in and its output is V

This phase dependency can be eliminated by adding a second PSD. If the second PSD multiplies the signal with the reference oscillator shifted by 90°, i.e. VLsin(ωLt + θ tered output will be

V V

psd2

= 1/2 V ~ V

sig

sigVL

sinθ

Now we have two outputs, one proportional to cosθ and the other proportional to sinθ. If we call the first output X and the second Y,

X = V

cosθ Y = V

sig

these two quantities represent the signal as a vector relative to the lock-in reference oscillator. X is called the 'in-phase' component and Y the 'quadrature' component. This is because when θ=0, X measures the signal while Y is zero.

- θ

sig

ref

sin(θ

sig

). θ is the phase

ref

we can make θ

ref

+ 90°), its low pass fil-

- θ

ref

)

sig

sinθ

sig

cosθ.

Lock-in amplifiers use a phase-locked-loop (PLL) to generate the reference signal. An external reference signal (in this case, the reference square wave) is provided to the lock-in. The PLL in the lock-in locks the internal reference oscillator to this external reference, resulting in a reference sine wave at ωr with a fixed phase shift of θ

. Since

ref

the PLL actively tracks the external reference, changes in the external reference frequency do not affect the measurement.

All lock-in measurements require a reference signal.

In this case, the reference is provided by the excitation source (the function generator). This is called an external reference source. In many situations, the SR830's internal oscillator may be used instead. The internal oscillator is just like a function generator (with variable sine output and a TTL

By computing the magnitude (R) of the signal vector, the phase dependency is removed.

R = (X2 + Y2)

1/2

= V

sig

R measures the signal amplitude and does not depend upon the phase between the signal and lock-in reference.

A dual-phase lock-in, such as the SR830, has two PSD's, with reference oscillators 90° apart, and can measure X, Y and R directly. In addition, the phase θ between the signal and lock-in reference, can be measured according to

θ = tan-1 (Y/X)

3-2

WHAT DOES A LOCK-IN MEASURE?

SR830 Basics

So what exactly does the SR830 measure? Fourier's theorem basically states that any input signal can be represented as the sum of many, many sine waves of differing amplitudes, frequencies and phases. This is generally considered as representing the signal in the "frequency domain". Normal oscilloscopes display the signal in the "time domain". Except in the case of clean sine waves, the time domain representation does not convey very much information about the various frequencies which make up the signal.

What does the SR830 measure?

The SR830 multiplies the signal by a pure sine wave at the reference frequency. All components of the input signal are multiplied by the reference simultaneously. Mathematically speaking, sine waves of differing frequencies are orthogonal, i.e. the average of the product of two sine waves is zero unless the frequencies are EXACTLY the same. In the SR830, the product of this multiplication yields a DC output signal proportional to the component of the signal whose frequency is exactly locked to the reference frequency. The low pass filter which follows the multiplier provides the averaging which removes the products of the reference with components at all other frequencies.

The SR830, because it multiplies the signal with a pure sine wave, measures the single Fourier (sine) component of the signal at the reference frequency. Let's take a look at an example. Suppose the input signal is a simple square wave at frequency f. The square wave is actually composed of many sine waves at multiples of f with carefully related amplitudes and phases. A 2V pk-pk square wave can be expressed as

frequencies is removed by the low pass filter following the multiplier. This "bandwidth narrowing" is the primary advantage that a lock-in amplifier provides. Only inputs at frequencies at the reference frequency result in an output.

RMS or Peak?

Lock-in amplifiers as a general rule display the input signal in Volts RMS. When the SR830 displays a magnitude of 1V (rms), the component of the input signal at the reference frequency is a sine wave with an amplitude of 1 Vrms or

2.8 V pk-pk. Thus, in the previous example with a 2 V pk-pk

square wave input, the SR830 would detect the first sine component, 1.273sin(ωt). The measured and displayed magnitude would be 0.90 V (rms) (1/√2 x 1.273).

Degrees or Radians?

In this discussion, frequencies have been referred to as f (Hz) and ω (2πf radians/sec). This is because people measure frequencies in cycles per second and math works best in radians. For purposes of measurement, frequencies as measured in a lock-in amplifier are in Hz. The equations used to explain the actual calculations are sometimes written using ω to simplify the expressions.

Phase is always reported in degrees. Once again, this is more by custom than by choice. Equations written as sin(ωt + θ) are written as if θ is in radians mostly for simplicity. Lock-in amplifiers always manipulate and measure phase in degrees.

S(t) = 1.273sin(ωt) + 0.4244sin(3ωt) +

0.2546sin(5ωt) + ...

where ω = 2πf. The SR830, locked to f will single out the first component. The measured signal will be 1.273sin(ωt), not the 2V pk-pk that you'd measure on a scope.

In the general case, the input consists of signal plus noise. Noise is represented as varying signals at all frequencies. The ideal lock-in only responds to noise at the reference frequency. Noise at other

3-3

SR830 Basics

3-4

THE FUNCTIONAL SR830

Differential

Amp

100/120 Hz

Notch

Filter

Locked

Loop

The functional block diagram of the SR830 DSP Lock-In Amplifier is shown below. The functions in the gray area are handled by the digital signal processor (DSP). We'll discuss the DSP aspects of the SR830 as they come up in each functional block description.

SR830 Basics

Voltage

Current

Reference In Sine or TTL

A B

Low Noise

Discriminator

50/60 Hz

Notch

Filter

PLL

Phase

Internal

Oscillator

90°

Phase

Shift

Phase Shifter

Gain

Phase

Sensitive

Detector

Phase

Sensitive

Detector

Low Pass Filter

DC Gain

Offset

Expand

R and

Ø Calc

DC Gain

Offset

Expand

Y Out

R Ø

X Out

SR830 FUNCTIONAL BLOCK DIAGRAM

Sine Out

TTL Out

Discriminator

3-5

SR830 Basics

3-6

REFERENCE CHANNEL

SR830 Basics

A lock-in amplifier requires a reference oscillator phase-locked to the signal frequency. In general, this is accomplished by phase-locking an internal oscillator to an externally provided reference signal. This reference signal usually comes from the signal source which is providing the excitation to the experiment.

Reference Input

The SR830 reference input can trigger on an analog signal (like a sine wave) or a TTL logic signal. The first case is called External Sine. The input is AC coupled (above 1 Hz) and the input impedance is 1 MΩ. A sine wave input greater than 200 mV pk will trigger the input discriminator. Positive zero crossings are detected and considered to be the zero for the reference phase shift.

TTL reference signals can be used at all frequencies up to 102 kHz. For frequencies below 1 Hz, a TTL reference signal is required. Many function generators provide a TTL SYNC output which can be used as the reference. This is convenient since the generator's sine output might be smaller than 200 mV or be varied in amplitude. The SYNC signal will provide a stable reference regardless of the sine amplitude.

When using a TTL reference, the reference input trigger can be set to Pos Edge (detect rising edges) or Neg Edge (detect falling edges). In each case, the internal oscillator is locked (at zero phase) to the detected edge.

Internal Oscillator

The internal oscillator in the SR830 is basically a 102 kHz function generator with sine and TTL sync outputs. The oscillator can be phase-locked to the external reference.

The oscillator generates a digitally synthesized sine wave. The digital signal processor, or DSP, sends computed sine values to a 16 bit digital-toanalog converter every 4 µs (256 kHz). An antialiasing filter converts this sampled signal into a low distortion sine wave. The internal oscillator sine wave is output at the SINE OUT BNC on the front panel. The amplitude of this output may be set from 4 mV to 5 V.

When an external reference is used, this internal oscillator sine wave is phase-locked to the reference. The rising zero crossing is locked to the detected reference zero crossing or edge. In this mode, the SINE OUT provides a sine wave phaselocked to the external reference. At low frequencies (below 10 Hz), the phase locking is accomplished digitally by the DSP. At higher frequencies, a discrete phase comparator is used.

The internal oscillator may be used without an external reference. In the Internal Reference mode, the SINE OUT provides the excitation for the experiment. The phase-locked-loop is not used in this mode since the lock-in reference is providing the excitation signal.

The TTL OUT on the rear panel provides a TTL sync output. The internal oscillator's rising zero crossings are detected and translated to TTL levels. This output is a square wave.

Reference Oscillators and Phase

The internal oscillator sine wave is not the reference signal to the phase sensitive detectors. The DSP computes a second sine wave, phase shifted by θ

from the internal oscillator (and thus from

ref

an external reference), as the reference input to the X phase sensitive detector. This waveform is sin(ωrt + θ able in .01° increments.

The input to the Y PSD is a third sine wave, computed by the DSP, shifted by 90° from the second sine wave. This waveform is sin(ωrt + θ

Both reference sine waves are calculated to 20 bits of accuracy and a new point is calculated every 4 µs (256 kHz). The phase shifts (θ the 90° shift) are also exact numbers and accurate to better than .001°. Neither waveform is actually output in analog form since the phase sensitive detectors are actually multiply instructions inside the DSP.

). The reference phase shift is adjust-

ref

+ 90°).

ref

and

Phase Jitter

When an external reference is used, the phaselocked loop adds a little phase jitter. The internal oscillator is supposed to be locked with zero phase shift relative the external reference. Phase

3-7

SR830 Basics

jitter means that the average phase shift is zero but the instantaneous phase shift has a few millidegrees of noise. This shows up at the output as noise in phase or quadrature measurements.

Phase noise can also cause noise to appear at the X and Y outputs. This is because a reference oscillator with a lot of phase noise is the same as a reference whose frequency spectrum is spread out. That is, the reference is not a single frequency, but a distribution of frequencies about the true reference frequency. These spurious frequencies are attenuated quite a bit but still cause problems. The spurious reference frequencies result in signals close to the reference being detected. Noise at nearby frequencies now appears near DC and affects the lock-in output.

Phase noise in the SR830 is very low and generally causes no problems. In applications requiring no phase jitter, the internal reference mode should be used. Since there is no PLL, the internal oscillator and the reference sine waves are directly linked and there is no jitter in the measured phase. (Actually, the phase jitter is the phase noise of a

crystal oscillator and is very, very small).

Harmonic Detection

It is possible to compute the two PSD reference sine waves at a multiple of the internal oscillator frequency. In this case, the lock-in detects signals at Nxf ence. The SINE OUT frequency is not affected. The SR830 can detect at any harmonic up to N=19999 as long as Nxf 102 kHz.

which are synchronous with the refer-

ref

does not exceed

ref

3-8

SR830 Basics

THE PHASE SENSITIVE DETECTORS (PSD's)

The SR830 multiplies the signal with the reference sine waves digitally. The amplified signal is converted to digital form using a 16 bit A/D converter sampling at 256 kHz. The A/D converter is preceded by a 102 kHz anti-aliasing filter to prevent higher frequency inputs from aliasing below 102 kHz. The signal amplifier and filters will be discussed later.

This input data stream is multiplied, a point at a time, with the computed reference sine waves described previously. Every 4 µs, the input signal is sampled and the result is multiplied by the two reference sine waves (90° apart).

Digital PSD vs Analog PSD

The phase sensitive detectors (PSD's) in the SR830 act as linear multipliers, that is, they multiply the signal with a reference sine wave. Analog PSD's (both square wave and linear) have many problems associated with them. The main problems are harmonic rejection, output offsets, limited dynamic reserve and gain error.

The digital PSD multiplies the digitized signal with a digitally computed reference sine wave. Because the reference sine waves are computed to 20 bits of accuracy, they have very low harmonic content. In fact, the harmonics are at the

-120 dB level! This means that the signal is multiplied by a single reference sine wave (instead of a reference and its many harmonics) and only the signal at this single reference frequency is detected. The SR830 is completely insensitive to signals at harmonics of the reference. In contrast, a square wave multiplying lock-in will detect at all of the odd harmonics of the reference (a square wave contains many large odd harmonics).

Output offset is a problem because the signal of interest is a DC output from the PSD and an output offset contributes to error and zero drift. The offset problems of analog PSD's are eliminated using the digital multiplier. There are no erroneous DC output offsets from the digital multiplication of the signal and reference. In fact, the actual multiplication is totally free from errors.

The dynamic reserve of an analog PSD is limited to about 60 dB. When there is a large noise signal

present, 1000 times or 60 dB greater than the full scale signal, the analog PSD measures the signal with an error. The error is caused by non-linearity in the multiplication (the error at the output depends upon the amplitude of the input). This error can be quite large (10% of full scale) and depends upon the noise amplitude, frequency, and waveform. Since noise generally varies quite a bit in these parameters, the PSD error causes quite a bit of output uncertainty.

In the digital lock-in, the dynamic reserve is limited by the quality of the A/D conversion. Once the input signal is digitized, no further errors are introduced. Certainly the accuracy of the multiplication does not depend on the size of the numbers. The A/D converter used in the SR830 is extremely linear, meaning that the presence of large noise signals does not impair its ability to correctly digitize a small signal. In fact, the dynamic reserve of the SR830 can exceed 100 dB without any problems. We'll talk more about dynamic reserve a little later.

An analog linear PSD multiplies the signal by an analog reference sine wave. Any amplitude variation in the reference amplitude shows up directly as a variation in the overall gain. Analog sine wave generators are susceptible to amplitude drift, especially as a function of temperature. The digital reference sine wave has a precise amplitude and never changes. This eliminates a major source of gain error in a linear analog lock-in.

The overall performance of a lock-in amplifier is largely determined by the performance of its phase sensitive detectors. In virtually all respects, the digital PSD outperforms its analog counterparts.

We've discussed how the digital signal processor in the SR830 computes the internal oscillator and two reference sine waves and handles both phase sensitive detectors. In the next section, we'll see the same DSP perform the low pass filtering and DC amplification required at the output of the PSD's. Here again, the digital technique eliminates many of the problems associated with analog lockin amplifiers.

3-9

SR830 Basics

3-10

TIME CONSTANTS and DC GAIN

SR830 Basics

Remember, the output of the PSD contains many signals. Most of the output signals have frequencies which are either the sum or difference between an input signal frequency and the reference frequency. Only the component of the input signal whose frequency is exactly equal to the reference frequency will result in a DC output.

The low pass filter at the PSD output removes all of the unwanted AC signals, both the 2F (sum of the signal and the reference) and the noise components. This filter is what makes the lock-in such a narrow band detector.

Time Constants

Lock-in amplifiers have traditionally set the low pass filter bandwidth by setting the time constant. The time constant is simply 1/2πf where f is the

-3 dB frequency of the filter. The low pass filters are simple 6 dB/oct roll off, RC type filters. A 1 second time constant referred to a filter whose

-3 dB point occurred at 0.16 Hz and rolled off at 6 dB/oct beyond 0.16 Hz. Typically, there are two successive filters so that the overall filter can roll off at either 6 dB or 12 dB per octave. The time constant referred to the -3 dB point of each filter alone (not the combined filter).

The notion of time constant arises from the fact that the actual output is supposed to be a DC signal. In fact, when there is noise at the input, there is noise on the output. By increasing the time constant, the output becomes more steady and easier to measure reliably. The trade off comes when real changes in the input signal take many time constants to be reflected at the output. This is because a single RC filter requires about 5 time constants to settle to its final value. The time constant reflects how slowly the output responds, and thus the degree of output smoothing.

The time constant also determines the equivalent noise bandwidth (ENBW) for noise measurements. The ENBW is NOT the filter -3 dB pole, it is the effective bandwidth for Gaussian noise. More about this later.

Digital Filters vs Analog Filters

The SR830 improves on analog filters in many ways. First, analog lock-ins provide at most, two

stages of filtering with a maximum roll off of 12 dB/oct. This limitation is usually due to space and expense. Each filter needs to have many different time constant settings. The different settings require different components and switches to select them, all of which is costly and space consuming.

The digital signal processor in the SR830 handles all of the low pass filtering. Each PSD can be followed by up to four filter stages for up to 24 dB/oct of roll off. Since the filters are digital, the SR830 is not limited to just two stages of filtering.

Why is the increased roll off desirable? Consider an example where the reference is at 1 kHz and a large noise signal is at 1.05 kHz. The PSD noise outputs are at 50 Hz (difference) and 2.05 kHz (sum). Clearly the 50 Hz component is the more difficult to low pass filter. If the noise signal is 80 dB above the full scale signal and we would like to measure the signal to 1% (-40 dB), then the 50 Hz component needs to be reduced by 120 dB. To do this in two stages would require a time constant of at least 3 seconds. To accomplish the same attenuation in four stages only requires 100 ms of time constant. In the second case, the output will respond 30 times faster and the experiment will take less time.

Synchronous Filters

Another advantage of digital filtering is the ability to do synchronous filtering. Even if the input signal has no noise, the PSD output always contains a component at 2F (sum frequency of signal and reference) whose amplitude equals or exceeds the desired DC output depending upon the phase. At low frequencies, the time constant required to attenuate the 2F component can be quite long. For example, at 1 Hz, the 2F output is at 2 Hz and to attenuate the 2 Hz by 60 dB in two stages requires a time constant of 3 seconds.

A synchronous filter, on the other hand, operates totally differently. The PSD output is averaged over a complete cycle of the reference frequency. The result is that all components at multiples of the reference (2F included) are notched out completely. In the case of a clean signal, almost no additional filtering would be required. This is

3-11

SR830 Basics

increasingly useful the lower the reference frequency. Imagine what the time constant would need to be at 0.001 Hz!

In the SR830, synchronous filters are available at detection frequencies below 200 Hz. At higher frequencies, the filters are not required (2F is easily removed without using long time constants). Below 200 Hz, the synchronous filter follows either one or two stages of normal filters. The output of the synchronous filter is followed by two more stages of normal filters. This combination of filters notches all multiples of the reference frequency and provides overall noise attenuation as well.

Long Time Constants

Time constants above 100 seconds are difficult to accomplish using analog filters. This is simply because the capacitor required for the RC filter is prohibitively large (in value and in size!). Why would you use such a long time constant? Sometimes you have no choice. If the reference is well below 1 Hz and there is a lot of low frequency noise, then the PSD output contains many very low frequency components. The synchronous filter only notches multiples of the reference frequency, the noise is filtered by the normal filters.

The SR830 can provide time constants as long as 30000 seconds at reference frequencies below 200 Hz. Obviously you don't use long time constants unless absolutely necessary, but they're available.

DC Output Gain

How big is the DC output from the PSD? It depends on the dynamic reserve. With 60 dB of dynamic reserve, a noise signal can be 1000 times (60 dB) greater than a full scale signal. At the PSD, the noise can not exceed the PSD's input range. In an analog lock-in, the PSD input range might be 5V. With 60 dB of dynamic reserve, the signal will be only 5 mV at the PSD input. The PSD typically has no gain so the DC output from the PSD will only be a few millivolts! Even if the PSD had no DC output errors, amplifying this millivolt signal up to 10 V is error prone. The DC output gain needs to be about the same as the dynamic reserve (1000 in this case) to provide a 10 V output for a full scale input signal. An offset as small as 1 mV will appear as 1 V at the output! In fact, the PSD output offset plus the input offset of the DC amplifier needs to be on the order of 10 µV in order to not affect the measurement. If

the dynamic reserve is increased to 80dB, then this offset needs to be 10 times smaller still. This is one of the reasons why analog lock-ins do not perform well at very high dynamic reserve.

The digital lock-in does not have an analog DC amplifier. The output gain is yet another function handled by the digital signal processor. We already know that the digital PSD has no DC output offset. Likewise, the digital DC amplifier has no input offset. Amplification is simply taking input numbers and multiplying by the gain. This allows the SR830 to operate with 100 dB of dynamic reserve without any output offset or zero drift.

What about resolution?

Just like the analog lock-in where the noise can not exceed the input range of the PSD, in the digital lock-in, the noise can not exceed the input range of the A/D converter. With a 16 bit A/D converter, a dynamic reserve of 60 dB means that while the noise has a range of the full 16 bits, the full scale signal only uses 6 bits. With a dynamic reserve of 80 dB, the full scale signal uses only

2.5 bits. And with 100 dB dynamic reserve, the signal is below a single bit! Clearly multiplying these numbers by a large gain is not going to result in a sensible output. Where does the output resolution come from?

The answer is filtering. The low pass filters effectively combine many data samples together. For example, at a 1 second time constant, the output is the result of averaging data over the previous 4 or 5 seconds. At a sample rate of 256 kHz, this means each output point is the exponential average of over a million data points. (A new output point is computed every 4 µs and is a moving exponential average). What happens when you average a million points? To first order, the resulting average has more resolution than the incoming data points by a factor of million . This represents a gain of 20 bits in resolution over the raw data. A 1 bit input data stream is converted to 20 bits of output resolution.

The compromise here is that with high dynamic reserve (large DC gains), some filtering is required. The shortest time constants are not available when the dynamic reserve is very high. This is not really a limitation since presumably there is noise which is requiring the high dynamic reserve and thus substantial output filtering will also be required.

3-12

DC OUTPUTS and SCALING

SR830 Basics

The SR830 has X and Y outputs on the rear panel and Channel 1 and 2 (CH1 and CH2) outputs on the front panel.

X and Y Rear Panel Outputs

The X and Y rear panel outputs are the outputs from the two phase sensitive detectors with low pass filtering, offset and expand. These outputs are the traditional outputs of an analog lock-in. The X and Y outputs have an output bandwidth of 100 kHz.

CH1 and CH2 Front Panel Outputs

The two front panel outputs can be configured to output voltages proportional to the CH1 and CH2 displays or X and Y.

If the outputs are set to X or Y, these outputs duplicate the rear panel outputs.

If they are set to Display, the output is updated at 512 Hz. The CH1 display can be defined as X, R, X Noise, Aux Input 1 or 2, or any of these quantities divided by Aux Input 1 or 2. The CH2 display can be defined as Y, θ, Y Noise, Aux Input 3 or 4, or any of these quantities divided by Aux Input 3 or

4. If a display is defined as simply X or Y, this display, when output through the CH1 or CH2 output BNC, will only update at 512 Hz. It is better in this case to set output to X or Y directly, rather than the display.

X, Y, R and θ Output scales

The sensitivity of the lock-in is the rms amplitude of an input sine (at the reference frequency) which results in a full scale DC output. Traditionally, full scale means 10 VDC at the X, Y or R BNC output. The overall gain (input to output) of the amplifier is then 10 V/sensitivity. This gain is distributed between AC gain before the PSD and DC gain following the PSD. Changing the dynamic reserve at a given sensitivity changes the gain distribution while keeping the overall gain constant.

The SR830 considers 10 V to be full scale for any output proportional to simply X, Y or R. This is the output scale for the X and Y rear panel outputs as well as the CH1 and CH2 outputs when configured to output X or Y. When the CH1 or CH2 outputs are proportional to a display which is simply

defined as X, Y or R, the output scale is also 10 V full scale.

Lock-in amplifiers are designed to measure the RMS value of the AC input signal. All sensitivities and X, Y and R outputs and displays are RMS values.

Phase is a quantity which ranges from -180° to +180° regardless of the sensitivity. When CH2 outputs a voltage proportional to θ, the output scale is 18°/Volt or 180°=10V.

X, Y and R Output Offset and Expand

The SR830 has the ability to offset the X, Y and R outputs. This is useful when measuring deviations in the signal around some nominal value. The offset can be set so that the output is offset to zero. Changes in the output can then be read directly from the display or output voltages. The offset is specified as a percentage of full scale and the percentage does not change when the sensitivity is changed. Offsets up to ±105% can be programmed.

The X, Y and R outputs may also be expanded. This simply takes the output (minus its offset) and multiplies by an expansion factor. Thus, a signal which is only 10% of full scale can be expanded to provide 10 V of output rather than only 1 V. The normal use for expand is to expand the measurement resolution around some value which is not zero. For example, suppose a signal has a nominal value of 0.9 mV and we want to measure small deviations, say 10 µV or so, in the signal. The sensitivity of the lock-in needs to be 1 mV to accommodate the nominal signal. If the offset is set to 90% of full scale, then the nominal 0.9 mV signal will result in a zero output. The 10 µV deviations in the signal only provide 100 mV of DC output. If the output is expanded by 10, these small deviations are magnified by 10 and provide outputs of 1 VDC.

The SR830 can expand the output by 10 or 100 provided the expanded output does not exceed full scale. In the above example, the 10 µV deviations can be expanded by 100 times before they exceed full scale (at 1 mV sensitivity).

3-13

SR830 Basics

The analog output with offset and expand is Output = (signal/sensitivity - offset) x Expand x10V where offset is a fraction of 1 (50%=0.5), expand

is 1, 10 or 100, and the output can not exceed 10 V. In the above example,

Output = (0.91mV/1mV - 0.9) x 10 x 10V = 1V for a signal which is 10 µV greater than the 0.9 mV

nominal. (Offset = 0.9 and expand =10).

The X and Y offset and expand functions in the SR830 are output functions, they do NOT affect the calculation of R or θ. R has its own output offset and expand.

CH1 and CH2 Displays

The CH1 display can show X, R, X Noise, Aux Input 1 or 2, or any of these quantities divided by Aux Input 1 or 2. The CH2 display can show Y, θ, Y Noise, Aux Input 3 or 4, or any of these quantities divided by Aux Input 3 or 4.

where offset is a fraction of 1 (50%-0.5), expand is 1, 10 or 100, and the display can not exceed 100%.

For example, if the sensitivity is 1V and CH1 display is showing X/Aux 1. If X= 500 mV and Aux 1=

2.34 V, then the display value is (0.5/1.0)x100/2.34 or 21.37%. This value is affected by the sensitivity, offset and X expand.

In the case of θ, the full scale sensitivity is always 180°.

The Ratio indicator below the display is on whenever a display is showing a ratio quantity.

Display output scaling

What about CH1 or CH2 outputs proportional to ratio displays? The output voltage will simply be the displayed percentage times 10V full scale.

In the above example, the displayed ratio of

21.37% will output 2.137V from the CH1 output.

Output offsets ARE reflected in the displays. For example, if CH1 is displaying X, it is affected by the X offset. When the X output is offset to zero, the displayed value will drop to zero also. Any display which is showing a quantity which is affected by a non-zero offset will display a highlighted Offset indicator below the display.

Output expands do NOT increase the displayed values of X, Y or R. Expand increases the resolution of the X, Y or R value used to calculate the displayed value. For example, CH1 when displaying X does not increase its displayed value when X is expanded. This is because the expand function increases the resolution with which the signal is measured, not the size of the input signal. The displayed value will show an increased resolution but will continue to display the original value of X minus the X offset. Any display which is showing a quantity which is affected by a non-unity expand will display a highlighted Expand indicator below the display.

Ratio displays are displayed as percentages. The displayed percentage for X/Aux 1 would be

Display % = (signal/sensitivity-offset)xExpandx100

Aux In 1 (in Volts)

3-14

DYNAMIC RESERVE

SR830 Basics

We've mentioned dynamic reserve quite a bit in the preceding discussions. It's time to clarify dynamic reserve a bit.

What is dynamic reserve really?

Suppose the lock-in input consists of a full scale signal at f The traditional definition of dynamic reserve is the ratio of the largest tolerable noise signal to the full scale signal, expressed in dB. For example, if full scale is 1 µV, then a dynamic reserve of 60 dB means noise as large as 1 mV (60 dB greater than full scale) can be tolerated at the input without overload.

The problem with this definition is the word 'tolerable'. Clearly the noise at the dynamic reserve limit should not cause an overload anywhere in the instrument - not in the input signal amplifier, PSD, low pass filter or DC amplifier. This is accomplished by adjusting the distribution of the gain. To achieve high reserve, the input signal gain is set very low so the noise is not likely to overload. This means that the signal at the PSD is also very small. The low pass filter then removes the large noise components from the PSD output which allows the remaining DC component to be amplified (a lot) to reach 10 V full scale. There is no problem running the input amplifier at low gain. However, as we have discussed previously, analog lock-ins have a problem with high reserve because of the linearity of the PSD and the DC offsets of the PSD and DC amplifier. In an analog lock-in, large noise signals almost always disturb the measurement in some way.

plus noise at some other frequency.

ref

because the DC output amplifier is running at very high gain and low frequency noise and offset drift at the PSD output or the DC amplifier input will be amplified and appear large at the output. The noise is more tolerable than the DC drift errors since increasing the time constant will attenuate the noise. The DC drift in an analog lock-in is usually on the order of 1000ppm/°C when using 60 dB of dynamic reserve. This means that the zero point moves 1% of full scale over 10°C temperature change. This is generally considered the limit of tolerable.

Lastly, dynamic reserve depends on the noise frequency. Clearly noise at the reference frequency will make its way to the output without attenuation. So the dynamic reserve at f frequency moves away from the reference frequency, the dynamic reserve increases. Why? Because the low pass filter after the PSD attenuates the noise components. Remember, the PSD outputs are at a frequency of |f at which the reserve increases depends upon the low pass filter time constant and roll off. The reserve increases at the rate at which the filter rolls off. This is why 24 dB/oct filters are better than 6 or 12 dB/oct filters. When the noise frequency is far away, the reserve is limited by the gain distribution and overload level of each gain element. This reserve level is the dynamic reserve

actual reserve

60 dB

is 0dB. As the noise

ref

noise-fref

60 dB specified reserve

|. The rate

The most common problem is a DC output error caused by the noise signal. This can appear as an offset or as a gain error. Since both effects are dependent upon the noise amplitude and frequency, they can not be offset to zero in all cases and will limit the measurement accuracy. Because the errors are DC in nature, increasing the time constant does not help. Most lock-ins define tolerable noise as noise levels which do not affect the output more than a few percent of full scale. This is more severe than simply not overloading.

Another effect of high dynamic reserve is to generate noise and drift at the output. This comes about

40 dB

20 dB

low pass filter bandwidth

0 dB

ref

referred to in the specifications. The above graph shows the actual reserve vs the

frequency of the noise. In some instruments, the

3-15

noise

SR830 Basics

signal input attenuates frequencies far outside the lock-in's operating range (f these cases, the reserve can be higher at these frequencies than within the operating range. While this may be a nice specification, removing noise at frequencies very far from the reference does not require a lock-in amplifier. Lock-ins are used when there is noise at frequencies near the signal. Thus, the dynamic reserve for noise within the operating range is more important.

>>100 kHz). In

noise

Dynamic reserve in the SR830

The SR830, with its digital phase sensitive detectors, does not suffer from DC output errors caused by large noise signals. The dynamic reserve can be increased to above 100 dB without measurement error. Large noise signals do not cause output errors from the PSD. The large DC gain does not result in increased output drift.

In fact, the only drawback to using ultra high dynamic reserves (>60 dB) is the increased output noise due to the noise of the A/D converter. This increase in output noise is only present when the dynamic reserve is above 60 dB AND set to High Reserve or Normal. However, the Low Noise reserve can be very high as we'll see shortly.

To set a scale, the SR830's output noise at 100 dB dynamic reserve is only measurable when the signal input is grounded. Let's do a simple experiment. If the lock-in reference is at 1 kHz and a large signal is applied at 9.5 kHz, what will the lock-in output be? If the signal is increased to the dynamic reserve limit (100 dB greater than full scale), the output will reflect the noise of the signal at 1 kHz. The spectrum of any pure sine generator always has a noise floor, i.e. there is some noise at all frequencies. So even though the applied signal is at 9.5 kHz, there will be noise at all other frequencies, including the 1 kHz lock-in reference. This noise will be detected by the lock-in and appear as noise at the output. This output noise will typically be greater than the SR830's own output noise. In fact, virtually all signal sources will have a noise floor which will dominate the lock-in output noise. Of course, noise signals are generally much noisier than pure sine generators and will have much higher broadband noise floors.

If the noise does not reach the reserve limit, the SR830's own output noise may become detectable at ultra high reserves. In this case, simply lower the dynamic reserve and the DC gain will

decrease and the output noise will decrease also. In general, do not run with more reserve than necessary. Certainly don't use High Reserve when there is virtually no noise at all.

The frequency dependence of dynamic reserve is inherent in the lock-in detection technique. The SR830, by providing more low pass filter stages, can increase the dynamic reserve close to the reference frequency. The specified reserve applies to noise signals within the operating range of the lock-in, i.e. frequencies below 100 kHz. The reserve at higher frequencies is actually higher but is generally not that useful.

Minimum dynamic reserve (Low Noise)

The SR830 always has a minimum amount of dynamic reserve. This minimum reserve is the Low Noise reserve setting. The minimum reserve changes with the sensitivity (gain) of the instrument. At high gains (full scale sensitivity of 50 µV and below), the minimum dynamic reserve increases from 37 dB at the same rate as the sensitivity increases. For example, the minimum reserve at 5 µV sensitivity is 57 dB. In many analog lock-ins, the reserve can be lower. Why can't the SR830 run with lower reserve at this sensitivity?

The answer to this question is - Why would you want lower reserve? In an analog lock-in, lower reserve means less output error and drift. In the SR830, more reserve does not increase the output error or drift. More reserve can increase the output noise though. However, if the analog signal gain before the A/D converter is high enough, the 5 nV/√Hz noise of the signal input will be amplified to a level greater than the input noise of the A/D converter. At this point, the detected noise will reflect the actual noise at the signal input and not the A/D converter's noise. Increasing the analog gain (decreasing the reserve) will not decrease the output noise. Thus, there is no reason to decrease the reserve. At a sensitivity of 5 µV, the analog gain is sufficiently high so that A/D converter noise is not a problem. Sensitivities below 5 µV do not require any more gain since the signal to noise ratio will not be improved (the front end noise dominates). The SR830 does not increase the gain below the 5 µV sensitivity, instead, the minimum reserve increases. Of course, the input gain can be decreased and the reserve increased, in which case the A/D converter noise might be detected in the absence of any signal input.

3-16

SIGNAL INPUT AMPLIFIER and FILTERS

SR830 Basics

A lock-in can measure signals as small as a few nanovolts. A low noise signal amplifier is required to boost the signal to a level where the A/D converter can digitize the signal without degrading the signal to noise. The analog gain in the SR830 ranges from roughly 7 to 1000. As discussed previously, higher gains do not improve signal to noise and are not necessary.

The overall gain (AC plus DC) is determined by the sensitivity. The distribution of the gain (AC versus DC) is set by the dynamic reserve.

Input noise

The input noise of the SR830 signal amplifier is about 5 nVrms/√Hz. What does this noise figure mean? Let's set up an experiment. If an amplifier has 5 nVrms/√Hz of input noise and a gain of 1000, then the output will have 5 µVrms/√Hz of noise. Suppose the amplifier output is low pass filtered with a single RC filter (6 dB/oct roll off) with a time constant of 100 ms. What will be the noise at the filter output?

Amplifier input noise and Johnson noise of resistors are Gaussian in nature. That is, the amount of noise is proportional to the square root of the bandwidth in which the noise is measured. A single stage RC filter has an equivalent noise bandwidth (ENBW) of 1/4T where T is the time constant (RxC). This means that Gaussian noise at the filter input is filtered with an effective bandwidth equal to the ENBW. In this example, the filter sees 5 µVrms/√Hz of noise at its input. It has an ENBW of 1/(4x100ms) or 2.5 Hz. The voltage noise at the filter output will be 5 µVrms/√Hz x √2.5Hz or 7.9 µVrms. For Gaussian noise, the peak to peak noise is about 5 times the rms noise. Thus, the output will have about 40 µV pk-pk of noise.

Input noise for a lock-in works the same way. For sensitivities below about 5 µV full scale, the input noise will determine the output noise (at minimum reserve). The amount of noise at the output is determined by the ENBW of the low pass filter. See the discussion of noise later in this section for more information on ENBW. The ENBW depends upon the time constant and filter roll off. For example, suppose the SR830 is set to 5 µV full scale

with a 100 ms time constant and 6 dB/oct of filter roll off. The ENBW of a 100 ms, 6 dB/oct filter is

2.5 Hz. The lock-in will measure the input noise with an ENBW of 2.5 Hz. This translates to

7.9 nVrms at the input. At the output, this represents about 0.16% of full scale (7.9 nV/5 µV). The peak to peak noise will be about 0.8% of full scale.

All of this assumes that the signal input is being driven from a low impedance source. Remember resistors have Johnson noise equal to

0.13x√R nVrms/√Hz. Even a 50Ω resistor has almost 1 nVrms/√Hz of noise! A signal source impedance of 2kΩ will have a Johnson noise greater than the SR830's input noise. To determine the overall noise of multiple noise sources, take the square root of the sum of the squares of the individual noise figures. For example, if a 2kΩ source impedance is used, the Johnson noise will be 5.8 nVrms/√Hz. The overall noise at the SR830 input will be [52 + 5.82]

We'll talk more about noise sources later in this section.

At lower gains (sensitivities above 50 µV), there is not enough gain at high reserve to amplify the input noise to a level greater than the noise of the A/D converter. In these cases, the output noise is determined by the A/D noise. Fortunately, at these sensitivities, the DC gain is low and the noise at the output is negligible.

1/2

or 7.7 nVrms/√Hz.

Notch filters

The SR830 has two notch filters in the signal amplifier chain. These are pre-tuned to the line frequency (50 or 60 Hz) and twice the line frequency (100 or 120 Hz). In circumstances where the largest noise signals are at the power line frequencies, these filters can be engaged to remove noise signals at these frequencies. Removing the largest noise signals before the final gain stage can reduce the amount of dynamic reserve required to perform a measurement. To the extent that these filters reduce the required reserve to either 60 dB or the minimum reserve (whichever is higher), then some improvement might be gained. If the required reserve without these notch filters is below 60 dB or if the minimum reserve is sufficient, then these filters do not significantly improve

3-17

SR830 Basics

the measurement. Using either of these filters precludes making

measurements in the vicinity of the notch frequencies. These filters have a finite range of attenuation, generally 10 Hz or so. Thus, if the lock-in is making measurements at 70 Hz, do not use the 60 Hz notch filter! The signal will be attenuated and the measurement will be in error. When measuring phase shifts, these filters can affect phase measurements up to an octave away.

Anti-aliasing filter

After all of the signal filtering and amplification, there is an anti-aliasing filter. This filter is required by the signal digitization process. According to the Nyquist criterion, signals must be sampled at a frequency at least twice the highest signal frequency. In this case, the highest signal frequency is 100 kHz and the sampling frequency is 256 kHz so things are ok. However, no signals above 128 kHz can be allowed to reach the A/D converter. These signals would violate the Nyquist criterion and be undersampled. The result of this undersampling is to make these higher frequency signals appear as lower frequencies in the digital data stream. Thus a signal at 175 kHz would appear below 100 kHz in the digital data stream and be detectable by the digital PSD. This would be a problem.

To avoid this undersampling, the analog signal is filtered to remove any signals above 154 kHz (when sampling at 256 kHz, signals above 154 kHz will appear below 102 kHz). This filter has a flat pass band from DC to 102 kHz so as not to affect measurements in the operating range of the lock-in. The filter rolls off from 102 kHz to 154 kHz and achieves an attenuation above 154 kHz of at least 100 dB. Amplitude variations and phase shifts due to this filter are calibrated out at the factory and do not affect measurements. This filter is transparent to the user.

Input Impedance

The input impedance of the SR830 is 10 MΩ. If a higher input impedance is desired, then the SR550 remote preamplifier must be used. The SR550 has an input impedance of 100 MΩ and is AC coupled from 1 Hz to 100 kHz.

3-18

INPUT CONNECTIONS

SR830 Basics

In order to achieve the best accuracy for a given measurement, care must be taken to minimize the various noise sources which can be found in the laboratory. With intrinsic noise (Johnson noise, 1/f noise or input noise), the experiment or detector must be designed with these noise sources in mind. These noise sources are present regardless of the input connections. The effect of noise sources in the laboratory (such as motors, signal generators, etc.) and the problem of differential grounds between the detector and the lock-in can be minimized by careful input connections.

There are two basic methods for connecting a voltage signal to the lock-in - the single-ended connection is more convenient while the differential connection eliminates spurious pick-up more effectively.

Single-Ended Voltage Connection (A)

In the first method, the lock-in uses the A input in a single-ended mode. The lock-in detects the signal as the voltage between the center and outer conductors of the A input only. The lock-in does not force the shield of the A cable to ground, rather it is internally connected to the lock-in's ground via a resistor. The value of this resistor is selected by the user. Float uses 10 kΩ and Ground uses 10Ω. This avoids ground loop problems between the experiment and the lock-in due to differing ground potentials. The lock-in lets the shield 'quasi-float' in order to sense the experiment ground. However, noise pickup on the shield will appear as noise to the lock-in. This is bad since the lock-in cannot reject this noise. Common mode noise, which appears on both the center and shield, is rejected by the 100 dB CMRR of the lock-in input, but noise on only the shield is not rejected at all.

Experiment

Signal

Source

SR830 Lock-In

Differential Voltage Connection (A-B)

The second method of connection is the differential mode. The lock-in measures the voltage difference between the center conductors of the A and B inputs. Both of the signal connections are shielded from spurious pick-up. Noise pickup on the shields does not translate into signal noise since the shields are ignored.

When using two cables, it is important that both cables travel the same path between the experiment and the lock-in. Specifically, there should not be a large loop area enclosed by the two cables. Large loop areas are susceptible to magnetic pickup.

Experiment

Signal

Source

Loop

Area

Grounds may be at different potentials

SR830 Lock-In

Common Mode Signals

Common mode signals are those signals which appear equally on both center and shield (A) or both A and B (A-B). With either connection scheme, it is important to minimize both the common mode noise and the common mode signal. Notice that the signal source is held near ground potential in both illustrations above. If the signal source floats at a nonzero potential, the signal which appears on both the A and B inputs will not be perfectly cancelled. The common mode rejection ratio (CMRR) specifies the degree of cancellation. For low frequencies, the CMRR of 100 dB indicates that the common mode signal is canceled to 1 part in 105. Even with a CMRR of 100 dB, a 100 mV common mode signal behaves like a 1 µV differential signal! This is especially bad if the common mode signal is at the reference frequency (this happens a lot due to ground loops). The CMRR decreases by about 6 dB/ octave (20 dB/decade) starting at around 1 kHz.

Grounds may be at different potentials

3-19

SR830 Basics

Current Input (I)

The current input on the SR830 uses the A input BNC. The current input has a 1 kΩ input impedance and a current gain of either 106 or 108 Volts/Amp. Currents from 1 µA down to 2 fA full scale can be measured.

The impedance of the signal source is the most important factor to consider in deciding between voltage and current measurements.

For high source impedances, greater than 1 MΩ (106 gain) or 100 MΩ (108 gain), and small currents, use the current input. Its relatively low impedance greatly reduces the amplitude and phase errors caused by the cable capacitance-source impedance time constant. The cable capacitance should still be kept small to minimize the high frequency noise gain of the current preamplifier.

For moderate to low source impedances, or larger currents, the voltage input is preferred. A small value resistor may be used to shunt the signal current and generate a voltage signal. The lock-in then measures the voltage across the shunt resistor. Select the resistor value to keep the shunt voltage small (so it does not affect the source current) while providing enough signal for the lock-in to measure.

AC vs DC Coupling

The signal input can be either AC or DC coupled. The AC coupling high pass filter passes signals above 160 mHz (0.16 Hz) and attenuates signals at lower frequencies. AC coupling should be used at frequencies above 160 mHz whenever possible. At lower frequencies, DC coupling is required.

A DC signal, if not removed by the AC coupling filter, will multiply with the reference sine wave and produce an output at the reference frequency. This signal is not normally present and needs to be removed by the low pass filter. If the DC component of the signal is large, then this output will be large and require a long time constant to remove. AC coupling removes the DC component of the signal without any sacrifice in signal as long as the frequency is above 160 mHz.

The current input current to voltage preamplifier is always DC coupled. AC coupling can be selected following the current preamplifier to remove any DC current signal.

Which current gain should you use? The current gain determines the input current noise of the lockin as well as its measurement bandwidth. Signals far above the input bandwidth are attenuated by 6 dB/oct. The noise and bandwidth are listed below.

Gain Noise Bandwidth

10 10

130 fA/√Hz 70 kHz

13 fA/√Hz 700 Hz

3-20

INTRINSIC (RANDOM) NOISE SOURCES

noise

(rms)= 0.13 R ENBW nV

Random noise finds its way into experiments in a variety of ways. Good experimental design can reduce these noise sources and improve the measurement stability and accuracy.

There are a variety of intrinsic noise sources which are present in all electronic signals. These sources are physical in origin.

Johnson noise

Every resistor generates a noise voltage across its terminals due to thermal fluctuations in the electron density within the resistor itself. These fluctuations give rise to an open-circuit noise voltage,

(rms)= 4k TR∆f

noise

where k=Boltzmann's constant (1.38x10 T is the temperature in °Kelvin (typically 300°K), R is the resistance in Ohms, and ∆f is the bandwidth in Hz. ∆f is the bandwidth of the measurement.

Since the input signal amplifier in the SR830 has a bandwidth of approximately 300 kHz, the effective noise at the amplifier input is V or 350√R nV pk-pk. This noise is broadband and if the source impedance of the signal is large, can determine the amount of dynamic reserve required.

The amount of noise measured by the lock-in is determined by the measurement bandwidth. Remember, the lock-in does not narrow its detection bandwidth until after the phase sensitive detectors. In a lock-in, the equivalent noise bandwidth (ENBW) of the low pass filter (time constant) sets the detection bandwidth. In this case, the measured noise of a resistor at the lock-in input, typically the source impedance of the signal, is simply

The ENBW is determined by the time constant and slope as shown in the following table. Wait time is the time required to reach 99% of its final value.

T= Time Constant

( )

1/2

= 70√R nVrms

noise

-23

J/°K),

The signal amplifier bandwidth determines the amount of broadband noise that will be amplified. This affects the dynamic reserve. The time constant sets the amount of noise which will be measured at the reference frequency. See the SIGNAL INPUT AMPLIFIER discussion for more information about Johnson noise.

Shot noise

Electric current has noise due to the finite nature of the charge carriers. There is always some nonuniformity in the electron flow which generates noise in the current. This noise is called shot noise. This can appear as voltage noise when current is passed through a resistor, or as noise in a current measurement. The shot noise or current noise is given by

where q is the electron charge (1.6x10 Coulomb), I is the RMS AC current or DC current depending upon the circuit, and ∆f is the bandwidth.

When the current input of a lock-in is used to measure an AC signal current, the bandwidth is typically so small that shot noise is not important.

1/f noise

Every 10 Ω resistor, no matter what it is made of, has the same Johnson noise. However, there is excess noise in addition to Johnson noise which arises from fluctuations in resistance due to the current flowing through the resistor. For carbon composition resistors, this is typically 0.1 µV-3 µV of rms noise per Volt of applied across the resistor. Metal film and wire-wound resistors have about 10 times less noise. This noise has a 1/f spectrum and makes measurements at low frequencies more difficult.

Slope ENBW Wait Time

6 dB/oct 1/(4T) 5T

12 dB/oct 1/(8T) 7T

18 dB/oct 3/(32T) 9T

24 dB/oct 5/(64T) 10T

noise

SR830 Basics

1/2

(rms)= 2q I∆f( )

-19

Other sources of 1/f noise include noise found in

3-21

SR830 Basics

quencies more difficult. Other sources of 1/f noise include noise found in

vacuum tubes and semiconductors.

Total noise

All of these noise sources are incoherent. The total random noise is the square root of the sum of the squares of all the incoherent noise sources.

3-22

EXTERNAL NOISE SOURCES

= ωC

strayVnoise

SR830 Basics

In addition to the intrinsic noise sources discussed in the previously, there are a variety of external noise sources within the laboratory.

Most of these noise sources are asynchronous, i.e. they are not related to the reference and do not occur at the reference frequency or its harmonics. Examples include lighting fixtures, motors, cooling units, radios, computer screens, etc. These noise sources affect the measurement by increasing the required dynamic reserve or lengthening the time constant.

Some noise sources, however, are related to the reference and, if picked up in the signal, will add or subtract from the actual signal and cause errors in the measurement. Typical sources of synchronous noise are ground loops between the experiment, detector and lock-in, and electronic pick up from the reference oscillator or experimental apparatus.

Many of these noise sources can be minimized with good laboratory practice and experiment design. There are several ways in which noise sources are coupled into the signal path.

Capacitive coupling

An AC voltage from a nearby piece of apparatus can couple to a detector via a stray capacitance. Although C noise may still be larger than a weak experimental signal. This is especially damaging if the coupled noise is synchronous (at the reference frequency).

Experiment

We can estimate the noise current caused by a stray capacitance by,

where ω is 2π times the noise frequency, V the noise amplitude, and C capacitance.

may be very small, the coupled

stray

Stray Capacitance

Detector

stray

is the stray

stray

i= C

Noise

Source

noise

For example, if the noise source is a power circuit, then f = 60 Hz and V

= 120 V. C

noise

stray

can be estimated using a parallel plate equivalent capacitor. If the capacitance is roughly an area of 1 cm at a separated by 10 cm, then C

is 0.009 pF.

stray

The resulting noise current will be 400 pA (at 60 Hz). This small noise current can be thousands of times larger than the signal current. If the noise source is at a higher frequency, the coupled noise will be even greater.

If the noise source is at the reference frequency, then the problem is much worse. The lock-in rejects noise at other frequencies, but pick-up at the reference frequency appears as signal!

Cures for capacitive noise coupling include:

1) Removing or turning off the noise source.

2) Keeping the noise source far from the experiment (reducing C

). Do not bring

stray

the signal cables close to the noise source.

3) Designing the experiment to measure voltages with low impedance (noise current generates very little voltage).

4) Installing capacitive shielding by placing both the experiment and detector in a metal box.

Inductive coupling

An AC current in a nearby piece of apparatus can couple to the experiment via a magnetic field. A changing current in a nearby circuit gives rise to a changing magnetic field which induces an emf (dØB/dt) in the loop connecting the detector to the experiment. This is like a transformer with the experiment-detector loop as the secondary winding.

B(t)

Experiment

Detector

Noise

Source

3-23

SR830 Basics

+ V

= i

Cures for inductively coupled noise include:

1) Removing or turning off the interfering noise source.

2) Reduce the area of the pick-up loop by using twisted pairs or coaxial cables, or even twisting the 2 coaxial cables used in differential connections.

3) Using magnetic shielding to prevent the magnetic field from crossing the area of the experiment.

4) Measuring currents, not voltages, from high impedance detectors.

Resistive coupling or ground loops

Currents flowing through the ground connections can give rise to noise voltages. This is especially a

Experiment

Detector

Microphonics

Not all sources of noise are electrical in origin. Mechanical noise can be translated into electrical noise by microphonic effects. Physical changes in the experiment or cables (due to vibrations for example) can result in electrical noise over the entire frequency range of the lock-in.

For example, consider a coaxial cable connecting a detector to a lock-in. The capacitance of the cable is a function of its geometry. Mechanical vibrations in the cable translate into a capacitance that varies in time, typically at the vibration frequency. Since the cable is governed by Q=CV,

taking the derivative, we have Mechanical vibrations in the cable which cause a dC/dt will give rise to a current in the cable. This current affects the detector and the measured signal.

Some ways to minimize microphonic signals are:

I(t)

Noise Source

problem with reference frequency ground currents. In this illustration, the detector is measuring the signal relative to a ground far from the rest of the experiment. The experiment senses the detector signal plus the voltage due to the noise source's ground return current passing through the finite resistance of the ground between the experiment and the detector. The detector and the experiment are grounded at different places which, in this case, are at different potentials.

Cures for ground loop problems include:

1) Grounding everything to the same physical point.

2) Using a heavy ground bus to reduce the resistance of ground connections.

3) Removing sources of large ground currents from the ground bus used for small signals.

1) Eliminate mechanical vibrations near the experiment.

2) Tie down cables carrying sensitive signals so they do not move.

3) Use a low noise cable that is designed to reduce microphonic effects.

Thermocouple effects

The emf created by junctions between dissimilar metals can give rise to many microvolts of slowly varying potentials. This source of noise is typically at very low frequency since the temperature of the detector and experiment generally changes slowly. This effect is large on the scale of many detector outputs and can be a problem for low frequency measurements, especially in the mHz range.

Some ways to minimize thermocouple effects are:

1) Hold the temperature of the experiment or detector constant.

2) Use a compensation junction, i.e. a second junction in reverse polarity which generates an emf to cancel the thermal potential of the first junction. This second junction should be held at the same tem-

3-24

perature as the first junction.

NOISE MEASUREMENTS

SR830 Basics

Lock-in amplifiers can be used to measure noise. Noise measurements are generally used to characterize components and detectors.

The SR830 measures input signal noise AT the reference frequency. Many noise sources have a frequency dependence which the lock-in can measure.

How does a lock-in measure noise?

Remember that the lock-in detects signals close to the reference frequency. How close? Input signals within the detection bandwidth set by the low pass filter time constant and roll-off appear at the output at a frequency f=f appears as noise at the output with a bandwidth of DC to the detection bandwidth.

For Gaussian noise, the equivalent noise bandwidth (ENBW) of a low pass filter is the bandwidth of the perfect rectangular filter which passes the same amount of noise as the real filter.

The ENBW is determined by the time constant and slope as shown below. Wait time is the time required to reach 99% of its final value.

T= Time Constant

Slope ENBW Wait Time

6 dB/oct 1/(4T) 5T

12 dB/oct 1/(8T) 7T

18 dB/oct 3/(32T) 9T

24 dB/oct 5/(64T) 10T

. Input noise near f

sig-fref

ref

Noise estimation

The noise is simply the standard deviation (root of the mean of the squared deviations)of the measured X, Y or R .

The above technique, while mathematically sound, can not provide a real time output or an analog output proportional to the measured noise. For these measurements, the SR830 estimates the X or Y noise directly.

To display the noise of X, for example, simply set the CH1 display to X noise. The quantity X noise is computed from the measured values of X using the following algorithm. The moving average of X

is computed. This is the mean value of X over some past history. The present mean value of X is subtracted from the present value of X to find the deviation of X from the mean. Finally, the moving average of the absolute value of the deviations is calculated. This calculation is called the mean average deviation or MAD. This is not the same as an RMS calculation. However, if the noise is Gaussian in nature, then the RMS noise and the MAD noise are related by a constant factor.

The SR830 uses the MAD method to estimate the RMS noise of X and Y. The advantage of this technique is its numerical simplicity and speed.

The noise calculations for X and Y occur at 512 Hz. At each sample, the mean and moving average of the absolute value of the deviations is calculated. The averaging time (for the mean and average deviation) depends upon the time constant. The averaging time is selected by the SR830 and ranges from 10 to 80 times the time constant. Shorter averaging times yield a very poor estimate of the noise (the mean varies rapidly and the deviations are not averaged well). Longer averaging times, while yielding better results, take a long time to settle to a steady answer.

To change the settling time, change the time constant. Remember, shorter settling times use smaller time constants (higher noise bandwidths) and yield noisier noise estimates.

X and Y noise are displayed in units of Volts/√Hz. The ENBW of the time constant is already factored into the calculation. Thus, the

mean displayed value of the noise should not depend upon the time constant.

The SR830 performs the noise calculations all of the time, whether or not X or Y noise are being displayed. Thus, as soon as X noise is displayed, the value shown is up to date and no settling time is required. If the sensitivity is changed, then the noise estimate will need to settle to the correct value.

3-25

SR830 Basics

3-26

FRONT PANEL

CH1 Display

Signal Inputs

CH2 Display Ref Display

Analog Outputs

Ref Input Sine Output

Power The power switch is on the rear panel. The SR830 is turned on by push-

ing the switch up. The serial number (5 digits) is shown in the CH1 and CH2 displays and the firmware version is shown in the Ref display at power on.

A series of internal tests are performed at this point.

DATA Performs a read/write test to the processor RAM.

BATT The nonvolatile backup memory is tested. Instrument settings are stored

in nonvolatile memory and are retained when the power is turned off.

PROG Checks the processor ROM.

DSP Checks the digital signal processor (DSP).

rCAL If the backup memory check passes, then the instrument returns to the

settings in effect when the power was last turned off (User). If there is a memory error, then the stored settings are lost and the standard (Std) settings are used.

Reset To reset the unit, hold down the [Setup] key while the power is turned on.

The unit will use the standard settings. The standard setup is listed on the next page.

[Keys] The keys are grouped and labelled according to function. This manual

will refer to a key with brackets such as [Key]. A complete description of the keys follows in this section.

4-1

Front Panel

Knob The knob is used to adjust parameters in the Reference display. The

parameters which may be adjusted are internal reference frequency, reference phase shift, sine output amplitude, harmonic detect number, offsets, Aux Output levels, and various Setup parameters.

Local Lockout If the computer interface has placed the unit in the REMOTE state, indi-

cated by the REMOTE led, then the keys and the knob are disabled. Attempts to change the settings from the front panel will display the message 'LOCL LOut' indicating local control is locked out by the interface.

Reference Input The reference input can be a sine wave (rising zero crossing detected) or

a TTL pulse or square wave (rising or falling edge). The input impedance is 1 MΩ AC coupled (>1 Hz) for the sine input. For low frequencies (<1 Hz), it is necessary to use a TTL reference signal. The TTL input provides the best overall performance and should be used whenever possible.

Sine Out The internal oscillator output has a 50Ω output impedance and varies in

amplitude from 4 mVrms to 5 Vrms. The output level is specified into a high impedance load. If the output is terminated in a low impedance, such as 50Ω, the amplitude will be less than the programmed amplitude (half for a 50Ω load).

This output is active even when an external reference is used. In this case, the sine wave is phase locked to the reference and its amplitude is programmable.

A TTL sync output is provided on the rear panel. This output is useful for triggering scopes and other equipment at the reference frequency. The TTL sync output is a square wave derived from the zero crossings of the sine output.

CH1 & CH2 Outputs The Channel 1 and Channel 2 outputs can be configured to output a volt-

age from -10 V to +10 V proportional to X or Y or the CH1 and CH2 Displays. ±10 V is full scale. The outputs can source 10 mA maximum.

Signal Inputs The input mode may be single-ended, A, or differential, A-B. The A and B

inputs are voltage inputs with 10 MΩ, 25 pF input impedance. Their connector shields are isolated from the chassis by 10 Ω (Ground) or 1 kΩ (Float). Do not apply more than 50 V to either input. The shields should never exceed 1 V. The I (current) input is 1 kΩ to a virtual ground.

Key Click On/Off Press the [Phase] and [Harm#] keys together to toggle the key click on

and off.

Front Panel Display Test To test the front panel displays, press the [Phase] and [Freq] keys

together. All of the LED's will turn on. Press [Phase] to decrease the number of on LED's to half on, a single LED and no LED's on. Use the knob to move the turned on LED's across the panel. Press [Freq] to increase the number of on LED's. Make sure that every LED can be turned on. Press any other key to exit this test mode.

Display Off Operation To operate with the front panel displays off, press [Phase] and [Freq]

4-2

Front Panel

together to enter the front panel test mode. Press [Phase] to decrease the number of on LED's until all of the LED's are off. The SR830 is still operating, the output voltages are updated and the unit responds to interface commands. To change a setting, press any key other than [Phase] or [Freq] to return to normal operation, change the desired parameter, then press [Phase] and [Freq] together to return to the test mode. Turn the LED's all off with the [Phase] key.

Keypad Test To test the keypad, press the [Phase] and [Ampl] keys together. The

CH1 and CH2 displays will read 'PAd codE' and a number of LED indicators will be turned on. The LED's indicate which keys have not been pressed yet. Press all of the keys on the front panel, one at a time. As each key is pressed, the key code is displayed in the Reference display, and the nearest indicator LED turns off. When all of the keys have been pressed, the display will return to normal. To return to normal operation without pressing all of the keys, simply turn the knob.

4-3

Front Panel

STANDARD SETTINGS

If the [Setup] key is held down when the power is turned on, the lock-in settings will be set to the defaults shown below rather than the settings that were in effect when the power was last turned off. The default settings may also be recalled using the ❊RST command over the computer interface. In this case, the communi- cations parameters and status registers are not changed.

REFERENCE / PHASE

Phase 0.000° Reference Source Internal Harmonic # 1 Sine Amplitude 1.000 Vrms Internal Frequency 1.000 kHz Ext Reference Trigger Sine

INPUT / FILTERS

Source A Grounding Float Coupling AC Line Notches Out

GAIN / TC

Sensitivity 1 V Reserve Low Noise Time Constant 100 ms Filter dB/oct. 12 dB Synchronous Off

DISPLAY

CH1 X CH2 Y Ratio None Reference Frequency

OUTPUT / OFFSET

CH1 Output X CH2 Output Y All Offsets 0.00% All Expands 1

AUX OUTPUTS

All Output Voltages 0.000 V

SETUP

Output To GPIB GPIB Address 8 RS232 Baud Rate 9600 Parity None Key Click On Alarms On Override Remote On

DATA STORAGE

Sample Rate 1 Hz Scan Mode Loop Trigger Starts No

STATUS ENABLE REGISTERS Cleared

4-4

Front Panel

Signal Input and Filters

[Input] The [Input] key selects the front end signal input configuration. The input

amplifier can be either a single-ended (A) or differential (A-B) voltage or a current (I).

The voltage inputs have a 10 MΩ, 25 pF input impedance. Their connector shields are isolated from the chassis by either 10 Ω (Ground) or 10 kΩ (Float). Do not apply more than 50 V to either input. The shields

should never exceed 1 V.

The current input uses the A connector. The input is 1 kΩ to a virtual ground. The largest allowable DC current before overload is 10 µA (1 M gain) or 100 nA (100 M gain). No current larger than 10 mA should ever be applied to this input.

The current gain determines the input current noise as well as the input bandwidth. The 100 MΩ gain has 10 times lower noise but 100 times lower bandwidth. Make sure that the signal frequency is below the input bandwidth. The noise and bandwidth are listed below.

Gain Noise Bandwidth 1M 130 fA/√Hz 70 kHz 100M 13 fA/√Hz 700 Hz

The impedance of the current source should be greater than 1 MΩ when using the 1M gain or 100 MΩ when using the 100M gain.

Changing the current gain does not change the instrument sensitivity. Sensitivities above 10 nA require a current gain of 1 MΩ. Sensitivities between 20 nA and 1 µA automatically select the 1 MΩ current gain. At sensitivities below 20 nA, changing the sensitivity does not change the current gain.

The message 'IGAn chG' is displayed to indicate that the current gain has been changed to 1 MΩ as a result of changing the sensitivity.

4-5

Front Panel

INPUT OVLD The OVLD led in this section indicates an INPUT overload. This occurs

for voltage inputs greater than 1.4Vpk (unless removed by AC coupling) or current inputs greater than 10 µA DC or 1.4 µA AC (1MΩ gain) or 100 nA DC or 14 nA AC (100MΩ gain). Reduce the input signal level.

[Couple] This key selects the input coupling. The signal input can be either AC or

DC coupled. The current input is coupled after the current to voltage conversion. The current input itself is always DC coupled (1 kΩ to virtual ground).

The AC coupling high pass filter passes signals above 160 mHz and attenuates signals at lower frequencies. AC coupling should be used at frequencies above 160 mHz whenever possible. At lower frequencies, DC coupling is required. AC coupling results in gain and phase errors at low frequencies.

Remember, the Reference Input is AC coupled when a sine reference is used. This also results in phase errors at low frequencies.

[Ground] This key chooses the shield grounding configuration. The shields of the

input connectors (A and B) are not connected directly to the lock-in chassis ground. In Float mode, the shields are connected by 10 kΩ to the chassis ground. In Ground mode, the shields are connected by 10 Ω to ground. Typically, the shields should be grounded if the signal source is floating and floating if the signal source is grounded. Do not exceed 1 V

on the shields.

[Notch] This key selects no line notch filters, the line frequency or twice line fre-

quency notch, or both filters. The line notch filters are pre-tuned to the line frequency (50 or 60 Hz) and twice the line frequency (100 or 120 Hz).

These filters have an attenuation depth of at least 30 dB. These filters have a finite range of attenuation, generally 10 Hz or so. If the reference frequency is 70 Hz, do not use the 60 Hz notch filter! The signal will be attenuated and the phase shifted. See the SR830 Basics section for a discussion of when these filters improve a measurement.

4-6

Sensitivity, Reserve and Time Constants

Front Panel

[Sensitivity Up/Dn] The [Sensitivity Up] and [Sensitivity Down] keys select the full scale sen-

sitivity. The sensitivity is indicated by 1-2-5 times 1, 10 or 100 with the appropriate units.

The full scale sensitivity can range from 2 nV to 1 V (rms) or 2 fA to 1 µA (rms). The sensitivity indication is not changed by the X, Y, or R output expand. The expand functions increase the output scale as well as the display resolution.

Changing the sensitivity may change the dynamic reserve. Sensitivity takes precedence over dynamic reserve. See the next page for more details.

Auto Gain

Pressing the [AUTO GAIN] key will automatically adjust the sensitivity based upon the detected signal magnitude (R). Auto Gain may take a long time if the time constant is very long. If the time constant is greater than 1 second, Auto Gain will abort.

RESERVE OVLD The OVLD led in the Sensitivity section indicates that the signal amplifier

is overloaded. Change the sensitivity or increase the dynamic reserve.

[Reserve] This key selects the reserve mode, either Low Noise, Normal or High

Reserve. The actual reserve (in dB) depends upon the sensitivity. When the reserve is High, the SR830 automatically selects the maximum reserve available at the present full scale sensitivity. When the reserve is Low, the minimum available reserve is selected. Normal is between the maximum and minimum reserve. Changing the sensitivity may change the actual reserve, NOT the reserve mode.

4-7

Front Panel

The actual dynamic reserves (in dB) for each sensitivity are listed below.

Sensitivity Low Noise Normal High Reserve

1 V 0 0 0 500 mV 6 6 6 200 mV 4 14 14 100 mV 0 10 20

50 mV 6 16 26 20 mV 4 24 34 10 mV 0 20 40

5 mV 6 26 46 2 mV 4 34 54

1 mV 10 40 60 500 µV 16 46 66 200 µV 24 54 74 100 µV 30 60 80

50 µV 36 66 86 20 µV 44 74 94 10 µV 50 80 100

5 µV 56 86 106 2 µV 64 94 114

1 µV 70 100 120 500 nV 76 106 126 200 nV 84 114 134 100 nV 90 120 140

50 nV 96 126 146 20 nV 104 134 154 10 nV 110 140 160

5 nV 116 146 166

2 nV 124 154 174

Do not use ultra high dynamic reserves above 120 dB unless absolutely necessary. It will be very likely that the noise floor of any interfering signal will obscure the signal at the reference and make detection difficult if not impossible. See the SR830 Basics section for more information.

Auto Reserve

Pressing [AUTO RESERVE] will change the reserve mode to the minimum reserve required. Auto Reserve will not work if there are low frequency noise sources which overload infrequently.

[Time Constant Up/Dn] This key selects the time constant. The time constant may be set from 10

µs to 30 s (detection freq.>200 Hz) or 30 ks (detection freq. <200 Hz). The detection frequency is the reference frequency times the harmonic detect number. The time constant is indicated by 1 or 3 times 1, 10 or 100 with the appropriate units.

The maximum time constant is 30 s if the detection frequency is above 200 Hz and 30 ks if the detection frequency is below 200 Hz. The actual range switches at 203.12 Hz when the frequency is increasing and at

199.21 Hz when the frequency is decreasing. The time constant may not be adjusted beyond the maximum for the present detection frequency. If

4-8

Front Panel

the detection frequency is below 200 Hz and 100 s is the time constant and the frequency increases above 200 Hz, the time constant WILL change to 30 s. Decreasing the frequency back below 200 Hz will NOT change the time constant back to 100 s.

The absolute minimum time constant is 10 µs. The actual minimum time constant depends upon the filter slope and the DC gain in the low pass filter (dynamic reserve plus expand). The minimum time constant is only restricted if the dynamic reserve plus expand is high and the filter slope is low - not a normal operating situation. The tables below list the minimum time constants for the different filter slopes and gains.

6 dB/oct DC gain (dB) min time constant

<45 10 µs <55 30 µs <65 100 µs <75 300 µs <85 1 ms <95 3 ms <105 10 ms <115 30 ms <125 100 ms <135 300 ms <145 1 s <155 3 s <165 10 s <175 30 s

12 dB/oct DC gain (dB) min time constant

<55 10 µs <75 30 µs <95 100 µs <115 300 µs <135 1 ms <155 3 ms <175 10 ms

18 dB/oct DC gain (dB) min time constant

<62 10 µs <92 30 µs <122 100 µs <152 300 µs <182 1 ms

24 dB/oct DC gain (dB) min time constant

<72 10 µs <112 30 µs <152 100 µs <182 300 µs

To use these tables, choose the correct table for the filter slope in use. Calculate the DC gain by adding the reserve to the expand (expressed in dB). Find the smallest DC gain entry which is larger than the gain in use.

4-9

Front Panel

Read the minimum time constant for this entry. For example, if the slope is 12 dB/oct, the reserve is 64 dB, and the X expand is 10 (20 dB), then the DC gain is 84 dB and the min time constant is 100 µs.

Time constant is a low priority parameter. If the sensitivity, dynamic reserve, filter slope, or expand is changed, and the present time constant is below the new minimum, the time constant WILL change to the new minimum. Remember, changing the sensitivity may change the reserve and thus change the time constant.

The message 'tc chnG' will be displayed to indicate that the time constant has been changed, either by increasing the detection frequency above 200 Hz, or by changing the sensitivity, dynamic reserve, filter slope, or expand.

The time constant also determines the equivalent noise bandwidth (ENBW) of the low pass filter. This is the measurement bandwidth for X and Y noise and depends upon the time constant and filter slope. (See the Noise discussion in the SR830 Basics section.)

FILTER OVLD The OVLD led in the Time Constant section indicates that the low pass

filters have overloaded. Increase the time constant or filter roll-off, or decrease the dynamic reserve.

Analog Outputs with Short Time Constants

When using short time constants below 10 ms, the X and Y analog outputs from the rear panel or the CH1 and CH2 outputs configured to output X or Y should be used. These outputs have a 100 kHz bandwidth and are accurate even with short time constants. CH1 or CH2 outputs proportional to the Displays (even if X or Y is displayed) are updated at a 512 Hz rate. These outputs do not accurately reflect high frequency outputs.

[Slope /oct] This key selects the low pass filter slope (number of poles). Each pole

contributes 6 dB/oct of roll off. Using a higher slope can decrease the required time constant and make a measurement faster. The filter slope affects the minimum time constant (see above). Changing the slope may change the time constant if the present time constant is shorter than the minimum time constant at the new filter slope.

[Sync Filter] Pressing this key selects no synchronous filtering or synchronous filtering

on below 200 Hz. In the second case, the synchronous filter is switched on whenever the detection frequency decreases below 199.21 Hz and switched off when the detection frequency increases above 203.12 Hz. The detection frequency is the reference frequency times the harmonic detect number. The SYNC indicator in the CH1 display is turned on whenever synchronous filtering is active.

When the synchronous filter is on, the phase sensitive detectors (PSD's) are followed by 2 poles of low pass filtering, the synchronous filter, then 2 more poles of low pass filtering. The low pass filters are set by the time constant and filter slope. If the filter slope requires less then 4 poles (<24 dB/oct), then the unused poles are set to a minimum time constant.

4-10

Front Panel

The poles which are set by the time constant are the ones closest to the PSD's. For example, if the time constant is 100 ms with 12 dB/oct slope and synchronous filtering is on, then the PSD's are followed by two poles of low pass filtering with 100 ms time constant, the synchronous filter, then two poles of minimum time constant.

Synchronous filtering removes outputs at harmonics of the reference frequency, most commonly 2xf. This is very effective at low reference frequencies since 2xf outputs would require very long time constants to remove. The synchronous filter does NOT attenuate broadband noise (except at the harmonic frequencies). The low pass filters remove outputs due to noise and interfering signals. See the SR830 Basics section for a discussion of time constants and filtering.

Note:

The synchronous filter averages the outputs over a complete period. Each period is divided into 128 equal time slots. At each slot, the average over the previous 128 slots is computed and output. This results in an output rate of 128xf. This output is then smoothed by the two poles of filtering which follow the synchronous filter.

The settling time of the synchronous filter is one period of the detection frequency. If the amplitude, frequency, phase, time constant or slope is changed, then the outputs will settle for one period. These transients are because the synchronous filter provides a steady output only if the input is repetitive from period to period. The transient response also depends upon the time constants of the regular filters. Very short time constants (<<period) have little effect on the transient response. Longer time constants (<period) can magnify the amplitude of a transient. Much longer time constants (≥ period) will increase the settling time far beyond a period.

4-11

Front Panel

CH1 Display and Output

[Display] This key selects the Channel 1 display quantity. Channel 1 may display

X, R, X Noise, Aux Input 1 or Aux Input 2. The numeric display has the units of the input signal. The bar graph is ±full scale sensitivity for X, R and X Noise, and ±10V for the Aux Inputs. Ratio displays are shown in % and the bar graph is scaled to ±100%. See the SR830 Basics section for a complete discussion of scaling.

OUTPUT OVLD The OVLD led in the display indicates that the Channel 1 output is over-

loaded (greater than 1.09 times full scale). This can occur if the sensitivity is too low or if the output is expanded such that the output voltage would exceed 10V.

AUTO This indicator is turned while an auto function is in progress. SYNC When the synchronous output filter is selected AND the detection fre-

quency is below 200 Hz, then the SYNC indicator will be on. If the detection frequency is above 200 Hz, synchronous filtering is not active and SYNC is off.

[Ratio] This key selects ratio measurements on Channel 1. The Channel 1 dis-

play may show X, R, X Noise, Aux Input 1 or Aux Input 2 divided by Aux Input 1 or 2. The denominator is indicated by the AUX IN leds above this

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key. The Ratio indicator in the display is on to indicate a ratio measurement. Pressing this key until the AUX IN leds and the Ratio indicator are off returns the measurement to non-ratio mode.

[Output] This key selects the CH1 OUTPUT source. The Channel 1 Output can

provide an analog output proportional to the Display or X. The output proportional to X has a bandwidth of 100 kHz (the output is updated at 256 kHz). This output is the traditional X output of a lock-in. Output proportional to the display (even if the display is simply X) has a bandwidth of 200 Hz (updated at 512 Hz).

Remember, The X output has 100 kHz of bandwidth. The Display output should only be used if the time constant is sufficiently long such that there are no high frequency outputs.

CH1 Offset and Expand The X and R outputs may be offset and expanded separately. Choose

either X or R with the [Display] key to adjust the X or R offset and expand.

X and R analog outputs are determined by Output = (signal/sensitivity - offset) x Expand x 10 V The output is normally 10 V for a full scale signal. The offset subtracts a

percentage of full scale from the output. Expand multiplies the remainder by a factor from 1, 10 or 100.

Output offsets ARE reflected in displays which depend upon X or R. X and Y offsets do NOT affect the calculation of R and θ. Output expands do NOT increase the displayed values of X or R. Expand

increases the display resolution. If the display is showing a quantity which is affected by an offset or a

non-unity expand, then the Offset and Expand indicators are turned on below the display.

See the SR830 Basics section for a complete discussion of scaling, offsets and expands.

[Offset On/Off] Pressing this key turns the X or R offset (as selected by the [Display]

key) on or off. The Offset indicator below the display turns on when the displayed quantity is offset. This key allows the offset to be turned on and off without adjusting the actual offset percentage.

[Modify] This key displays the X or R offset percentage (as selected by the

[Display] key) in the Reference Display. Use the knob to adjust the offset. The Channel 1 display reflects the offset as it is adjusted while the Reference display shows the actual offset percentage. The offset ranges from -105.00% to 105.00% of full scale. The offset percentage does not change with sensitivity - it is an output function. To return the Reference Display to its original display, press the desired reference

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Front Panel

display key ([Phase], [Freq], [Ampl], [Harm #] or [Aux Out]).

[Auto Offset] Pressing this key automatically sets the X or R offset percentage to offset

the selected output quantity to zero.

[Expand] Pressing this key selects the X and R Expand. Use the [Display] key to

select either X or R. The expand can be 1 (no expand), 10 or 100. If the expand is 10 or 100, the Expand indicator below the display will turn on. The output can never exceed full scale when expanded. For example, if an output is 10% of full scale, the largest expand (with no offset) which does not overload is 10. An output expanded beyond full scale will be overloaded.

Short Time Constant Limitations

A short time constant places a limit on the total amount of DC gain (reserve plus expand) available. If the time constant is short, the filter slope low and the dynamic reserve high, then increasing the expand may change the time constant. See the table of time constants and DC gains in the Gain and Time Constant section.

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CH2 Display and Output

Front Panel

[Display] This key selects the Channel 2 display quantity. Channel 2 may display

Y, θ, Y Noise, Aux Input 3 or Aux Input 4. The numeric display has the units of the input signal. The bar graph is ±full scale sensitivity for Y and Y Noise, ±180 ° for θ, and ±10V for the Aux Inputs. Ratio displays are shown in % and the bar graph is scaled to ±100%. See the SR830 Basics section for a complete discussion of scaling.

OUTPUT OVLD The OVLD led in the display indicates that the Channel 2 output is over-

loaded (greater than 1.09 times full scale). This can occur if the sensitivity is too low or if the output is expanded such that the output voltage would exceed 10V.

AUTO This indicator is turned while an auto function is in progress. TRIG The TRIG indicator flashes whenever a trigger is received at the rear

panel trigger input AND internal data storage is triggered.

[Ratio] This key selects ratio measurements on Channel 2. The Channel 2 dis-

play may show Y, θ, Y Noise, Aux Input 3 or Aux Input 4 divided by Aux Input 3 or 4. The denominator is indicated by the AUX IN leds above this key. The Ratio indicator in the display is on to indicate a ratio measurement. Pressing this key until the AUX IN leds and the Ratio indicator are

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off returns the measurement to non-ratio mode.

[Output] This key selects the CH2 OUTPUT source. The Channel 2 Output can

provide an analog output proportional to the Display or Y. The output proportional to Y has a bandwidth of 100 kHz (the output is updated at 256 kHz). This output is the traditional Y output of a lock-in. Output proportional to the display (even if the display is simply Y) has a bandwidth of 200 Hz (updated at 512 Hz).

Remember, The Y output has 100 kHz of bandwidth. The Display output should only be used if the time constant is sufficiently long such that there are no high frequency outputs.

CH2 Offset and Expand The Y output may be offset and expanded. Choose Y with the [Display]

key to adjust the Y offset and expand.

The Y analog output is determined by Output = (signal/sensitivity - offset) x Expand x 10 V The output is normally 10 V for a full scale signal. The offset subtracts a

percentage of full scale from the output. Expand multiplies the remainder by a factor from 1, 10 or 100.

Y Output offset IS reflected in displays which depend upon Y. X and Y offsets do NOT affect the calculation of R or θ. Y Output expand does NOT increase the displayed value Y. Expand

increases the display resolution. If the display is showing a quantity which is affected by an offset or a

non-unity expand, then the Offset and Expand indicators are turned on below the display.

See the SR830 Basics section for a complete discussion of scaling, offsets and expands.

[Offset On/Off] Pressing this key turns the Y offset on or off. The Offset indicator below

the display turns on when the displayed quantity is offset. This key allows the offset to be turned on and off without adjusting the actual offset percentage.

[Modify] This key displays the Y offset percentage in the Reference Display. Use

the knob to adjust the offset. The Channel 2 display reflects the offset as it is adjusted while the Reference display shows the actual offset. The offset ranges from -105.00% to 105.00% of full scale. The offset

percentage does not change with sensitivity - it is an output function. To return the Reference Display to its original display, press

the desired reference display key ([Phase], [Freq], [Ampl], [Harm #] or [Aux Out]).

[Auto Offset] Pressing this key automatically sets the Y offset percentage to offset the

Y output to zero.

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Front Panel

[Expand] Pressing this key selects the Y Expand. The expand can be 1 (no

expand), 10 or 100. If the expand is 10 or 100, the Expand indicator below the display will turn on. The output can never exceed full scale when expanded. For example, if an output is 10% of full scale, the largest expand (with no offset) which does not overload is 10. An output expanded beyond full scale will be overloaded.

Short Time Constant Limitations

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Front Panel

Reference

[Phase] Pressing this key displays the reference phase shift in the Reference

display. The knob may be used to adjust the phase. The phase shift ranges from -180° to +180° with 0.01° resolution.

When using an external reference, the reference phase shift is the phase between the external reference and the digital sine wave which is multiplying the signal in the PSD. This is also the phase between the sine output and the digital sine wave used by the PSD in either internal or external reference mode. Changing this phase shift only shifts internal sine waves. The effect of this phase shift can only be seen at the lock-in outputs X, Y and θ. R is phase independent.

Auto Phase

Pressing [AUTO PHASE] will adjust the reference phase shift so that the measured signal phase is 0°. This is done by subtracting the present measured value of θ from the reference phase shift. It will take several time constants for the outputs to reach their new values. Auto Phase may not result in a zero phase if the measurement is noisy or changing. If θ is not stable, Auto Phase will abort.

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Front Panel

[+90°] and [-90°] The [+90°] and [-90°] keys add or subtract 90.000° from the reference

phase shift. The phase does not need to be displayed to use these keys.

Zero Phase

Pressing the [+90°] and [-90°] keys together will set the reference phase shift to 0.00°.

[Freq] Pressing this key displays the reference frequency in the Reference dis-

play. If the reference mode is external, then the measured reference frequency

is displayed. The knob does nothing in this case. If the harmonic number is greater than 1 and the external reference goes above 102 kHz/N where N is the harmonic number, then the harmonic number is reset to 1. The reference will always track the external reference signal.

If the reference mode is internal, then the internal oscillator frequency is displayed. The oscillator frequency may adjusted with the knob. The frequency has 4 1/2 digits or 0.1 mHz resolution, whichever is larger. The frequency can range from 0.001 Hz to 102.00 kHz. The upper limit is

decreased if the harmonic number is greater than 1. In this case, the upper limit is 102 kHz/N where N is the harmonic number.

[Ampl] Pressing this key displays the Sine Output Amplitude in the Reference

display. Use the knob to adjust the amplitude from 4 mVrms to 5 Vrms with 2 mV resolution. The output impedance of the Sine Out is 50Ω. If the signal is terminated in 50Ω, the amplitude will be half of the programmed value.

When the reference mode is internal, this is the excitation source provided by the SR830. When an external reference is used, this sine output provides a sine wave phase locked to the external reference.

The rear panel TTL Output provides a TTL square wave at the reference frequency. This square wave is generated by discriminating the zero crossings of the sine output. This signal can provide a trigger or sync signal to the experiment when the internal reference source is used. This signal is also available when the reference is externally provided. In this case, the TTL Output is phase locked to the external reference.

[Harm #] The SR830 can detect signals at harmonics of the reference frequency.

The SR830 multiplies the input signal with digital sine waves at a multiple of the reference. Only signals at this harmonic will be detected. Signals at the original reference frequency are not detected and are attenuated as if they were noise.

Whenever the harmonic detect number is greater than 1, the HARM# indicator in the Reference display will flash to remind you that the SR830 is detecting signals at a multiple of the reference frequency.

Always check the harmonic detect number before making any measurements.

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Front Panel

If the harmonic number is set to N, then the internal reference frequency is limited to 102 kHz/N.

If an external reference is used and the reference frequency exceeds 102 kHz/N, then N is reset to 1. The SR830 will always track the external reference.

Pressing this key displays the harmonic number in the Reference display. The harmonic number may be adjusted using the knob. Harmonics up to 19999 times the reference can be detected as long as the harmonic frequency does not exceed 102 kHz. An attempt to increase the harmonic frequency above 102 kHz will display the message 'hAr ovEr' indicating harmonic number over range.

[Source] This key selects the reference mode. The normal mode is External refer-

ence (no indicator). The Internal mode is indicated by the INTERNAL led. When the reference source is External, the SR830 will phase lock to the

external reference provided at the Reference Input BNC. The SR830 will lock to frequencies between 0.001 Hz and 102.0 kHz. Use the [Freq] key to display the external frequency.

When the reference source is Internal, the SR830's synthesized internal reference is used as the reference. The Reference Input BNC is ignored in this case. In this mode, the Sine Out or TTL Sync Out provides the excitation for the measurement. Use the [Freq] key to display and adjust the frequency.

[Trig] This key selects the external reference input trigger mode.

When either POS EDGE or NEG EDGE is selected, the SR830 locks to the selected edge of a TTL square wave or pulse train. For reliable operation, the TTL signal should exceed 3.5 V when high and be less then

0.5 V when low. The input is directed past the analog discriminator and is DC coupled into a TTL input gate. This input mode should be used whenever possible since it is less noise prone than the sine wave discriminator.

For very low frequencies (<1 Hz), a TTL reference MUST be used. SINE input mode locks the SR830 to the rising zero crossings of an

analog signal at the Reference Input BNC. This signal should be a clean sine wave at least 200 mVpk in amplitude. In this input mode, the Reference Input is AC coupled (above 1 Hz) with an input impedance of 1 MΩ.

Sine reference mode can not be used at frequencies far below 1 Hz. At very low frequencies, the TTL input modes must be used.

UNLOCK The UNLOCK indicator turns on if the SR830 can not lock to the external

reference.

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Front Panel

Auto Functions

Pressing an Auto Function key initiates an auto function which may take some time. The AUTO leds in the CH1 and CH2 displays will be on while the function is in progress. A multi-tone sound will indicate when the auto function is complete and the AUTO leds will turn off.

[Auto Reserve] Pressing [AUTO RESERVE] will adjust the dynamic reserve to the mini-

mum reserve required. To do this, the reserve is decreased until the analog input amplifier is overloaded. The reserve is then increased to remove the overload.

Auto Reserve will work only if the overloading noise source has a frequency greater than a few Hz. Lower frequency noise sources may overload so infrequently that Auto Reserve can not detect it.

[AUTO RESERVE] does not change the notch prefilter settings.

[Auto Gain] [AUTO GAIN] will adjust the sensitivity so that the detected signal magni-

tude is a sizable percentage of full scale. Many time constants are required to determine whether a particular sensitivity will overload or not. Auto Gain thus takes a longer time when the time constant is long.

Auto Gain will not run if the time constant is greater than 1 second since the total time required could be far too long to be useful.

The message 'tc ovEr' will be displayed to indicate that the time constant is too long for Auto Gain to run.

[Auto Phase] [AUTO PHASE] adjusts the reference phase shift so that the measured

signal phase is 0°. This is done by subtracting the measured value of θ from the programmed reference phase shift. It will take several time constants for the outputs to reach their new values during which time θ will move towards 0°. Do not press [AUTO PHASE] again until the outputs have stabilized. When the measurement is noisy or if the outputs are changing, Auto Phase may not result in a zero phase.

Auto Phase will not run if the value of θ is unstable.

The message 'PhAS bAd' will be displayed to indicate that the phase is unstable and Auto Phase will not run.

Auto Setup There is no truly reliable way to automatically setup a lock-in amplifier for

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Front Panel

all possible input signals. In most cases, the following procedure should setup the SR830 to measure the input signal.

1.Press [AUTO GAIN] to set the sensitivity.

2.Press [AUTO RESERVE].

3.Adjust the time constant and roll-off until there is no Time Constant overload.

4.Press [AUTO PHASE] if desired.

5.Repeat if necessary. At very low frequencies, the auto functions may not function properly.

This is because very low frequency signals overload very infrequently and the time constants used tend to be very long.

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Front Panel

Setup

[Save] Nine amplifier setups may be stored in non-volatile memory.To save a

setup, press [Save] to display the buffer number (1..9) in the CH2 display. Use the knob to select the desired buffer number. Press [Save] again to store the setup in the buffer, or any other key to abort the save process.

The message 'SAvE n donE' is displayed if the setup is successfully saved. The message 'SAve not donE' is displayed if the save process is aborted.

[Recall] Nine amplifier setups may be stored in non-volatile memory.To recall a

setup, press [Recall] to display the buffer number (1..9) in the CH2 display. Use the knob to select the desired buffer number. Press [Recall] again to recall the setup in the buffer, or any other key to abort the recall process. When a setup is recalled, any data presently in the data buffer is lost.

The message 'rcal n donE' is displayed if the setup is successfully recalled. The message 'rcal not donE' is displayed if the recall process is aborted. The message 'rcal dAtA Err' is displayed if the recalled setup is not valid. This is usually because a setup has never been saved into the selected buffer.

[Aux Out] The 4 Aux Outputs may be programmed from the front panel. Press

[Aux Out] until the desired output (1-4) is displayed in the Reference display. The AxOut indicators below the display indicate which output (1-4) is displayed. The knob may then be used to adjust the output level from

-10.5V to +10.5V. Press [Phase], [Freq], [Ampl] or [Harm#] to return the display to normal.

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Interface

[Setup] Pressing the [Setup] key cycles through GPIB/RS232, ADDRESS,

BAUD, PARITY and QUEUE. In each case, the appropriate parameter is displayed in the Reference display and the knob is used for adjustment. Press [Phase], [Freq], [Ampl], [Harm#] or [Aux Out] to return the display to normal and leave Setup.

GPIB/RS232 The SR830 only outputs data to one interface at a time. Commands may

be received over both interfaces but responses are directed only to the selected interface. Make sure that the selected interface is set correctly before attempting to program the SR830 from a computer. The first command sent by any program should be to set the output to the correct interface.

Setup GPIB/RS232 displays the output interface. Use the knob to select GPIB or RS232.

ADDRESS Setup ADDRESS displays the GPIB address. Use the knob to select an

address from 0 to 30.

BAUD Setup BAUD displays the RS232 baud rate. Use the knob to adjust the

baud rate from 300 to 19200 baud.

PARITY Setup PARITY displays the RS232 parity. Use the knob to select Even,

Odd or None.

QUEUE The last 256 characters received by the SR830 may be displayed to help

find programming errors. Setup QUEUE will display 6 characters (2 per display) in hexadecimal (see below). Turn the knob left to move farther back in the buffer, turn the knob right to move towards the most recently received characters. A '.' is displayed to indicate the ends of the buffer. All characters are changed to upper case, spaces are removed, and command delimiters are changed to linefeeds (0A).

To leave this display, press [Setup] to return to GPIB/RS232 before pressing [Phase], [Freq], [Ampl], [Harm#] or [Aux Out] to return the display to normal and leave Setup.

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Front Panel

Hex ASCII Hex ASCII 2A ❋ 34 4 2B + 35 5 2C , 36 6 2D - 37 7 2E . 38 8 30 0 39 9 31 1 3B ; 32 2 3F ? 33 3

Hex ASCII Hex ASCII 0A linefeed 50 P 41 A 51 Q 42 B 52 R 43 C 53 S 44 D 54 T 45 E 55 U 46 F 56 V 47 G 57 W 48 H 58 X 49 I 59 Y 4A J 5A Z 4B K 4C L 4D M 4E N 4F O

[Local] When a host computer places the unit in the REMOTE state, no keypad

input or knob adjustment is allowed. The REMOTE indicator is on above the [Local] key. To return to front panel operation, press the [Local] key.

REMOTE This led is on when the front panel is locked out by a computer interface.

No front panel adjustments may be made.

SRQ This indicator is on whenever a GPIB Service Request is generated by

the SR830. SRQ stays on until a serial poll is completed.

ACTIVE This indicator flashes when there is activity on the computer interface. ERROR Flashes whenever there is a computer interface error such as an illegal

command or out of range parameter is received.

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Front Panel

WARNING MESSAGES

The SR830 displays various warning messages whenever the operation of the instrument is not obvious. The two tone warning alarm sounds when these messages are displayed.

Display Warning Message Meaning LOCL LOut LOCAL LOCKOUT If the computer interface has placed the unit in the REMOTE

state, indicated by the REMOTE led, then the keys and the knob are disabled. Attempts to change the settings from the front panel will display this message.

IGAn chG IGAIN CHANGE Indicates that the current conversion gain has been changed to

1 MΩ as a result of changing the sensitivity. Sensitivities from 20 nA to 1 µA require 1 MΩ current gain.

tc chnG TC CHANGE Indicates that the time constant has been changed, either by

increasing the detection frequency from below 200 Hz to above 200 Hz, or by changing the sensitivity, dynamic reserve, filter slope, or expand.

hAr ovEr HARMONIC OVER An attempt to increase the harmonic detect frequency above

102 kHz will display this message.

tc ovEr TC OVER Indicates that the time constant is too long (>1s) for Auto Gain to

run. PhAS bAd PHASE BAD Indicates that the phase is unstable and Auto Phase will not run. rcal dAtA Err RECALL DATA ERR This message is displayed if the recalled setup is not valid. This

is usually because a setup has never been saved into the select-

ed buffer. undr UNDR Indicates unit may not be precisely locked at very low frequency.

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REAR PANEL

Power Entry Module The power entry module is used to fuse the AC line voltage input, select

the line voltage, and block high frequency noise from entering or exiting the instrument. Refer to the first page of this manual for instructions on selecting the correct line voltage and fuse.

IEEE-488 Connector The 24 pin IEEE-488 connector allows a computer to control the SR830

via the IEEE-488 (GPIB) instrument bus. The address of the instrument is set with the [Setup] key.

RS232 Connector The RS232 interface connector is configured as a DCE (transmit on pin

3, receive on pin 2). The baud rate and parity are programmed with the [Setup] key. To connect the SR830 to a PC serial adapter, which is usually a DTE, use a straight thru serial cable.

AUX IN 1-4 (A/D Inputs) These are auxiliary analog inputs which can be digitized by the SR830.

The range is -10.5V to +10.5V and the resolution is 16 bits (1/3 mV). The input impedance is 1 MΩ.

These inputs may be displayed on the CH1 and CH2 displays. These inputs allow signals other than the lock-in outputs to be acquired (and stored). Furthermore, ratio quantities such as X/Aux1 may be displayed (and stored).

AUX OUT 1-4 (D/A Outputs) These are auxiliary analog outputs. The range is -10.5V to +10.5V and

the resolution is 1 mV. The output impedance is <1Ω and the output current is limited to 10 mA.

These outputs may be programmed from the front panel ([Aux Out])or via the computer interfaces.

X and Y The X and Y lock-in outputs are always available at these connectors.

The bandwidth of these outputs is 100 kHz. A full scale input signal will generate ±10V at these outputs. The output impedance is <1Ω and the output current is limited to 10 mA.

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Rear Panel

These outputs are affected by the X and Y offsets and expands. The actual outputs are

X Output = (X/sensitivity - offset)xExpandx10V Y Output = (Y/sensitivity - offset)xExpandx10V

where the offset is a percentage of full scale and the expand is an integer from 1, 10 or 100. The offsets and expand are set from the front panel.

MONITOR OUT This BNC provides a buffered output from the signal amplifiers and prefil-

ters. This is the signal just before the A/D converter and PSD. The output impedance is <1Ω and the output current is limited to 10 mA.

The gain from the signal input to the monitor output is the overall gain minus the dynamic reserve minus 3dB. The overall gain is 10V divided by the sensitivity. The actual dynamic reserve is specified in the description of the [Reserve] key. For example, if the sensitivity is 10 mV, the gain is 60dB. If the dynamic reserve is 20dB, then the gain from the input to the monitor output is 60-20-3=37dB or a gain of 71. A 10 mV (rms) input will result in a .7 Vrms or1 Vpk output. The gain is only accurate to about 1.5dB or 20%.

This output is useful for determining the cause of input overloads and the effects of prefiltering. However, because the analog gain never exceeds 2000, very small signals may not be amplified enough to viewed at the monitor output.

TRIG IN This TTL input may be used to trigger stored data samples and/or to start

data acquisition. If Trigger Start is selected, then a rising edge will start data storage. If the sample rate is also Trigger, then samples are recorded at every subsequent trigger. (The first trigger starts the scan and takes the first data point, subsequent triggers record the rest of the data points.) When the sample rate is set to Trigger, samples are recorded whenever there is a rising edge at the Trigger input. The maximum sample rate is 512 Hz. Data storage is available through the computer interface only.

TTL OUT This output is the TTL sync output for the internal oscillator. The output is

a square wave whose edges are linked to the sine wave zero crossings. This is useful when the sine output amplitude is small and a synchronous trigger is required (to a scope for example). This output is active even when locked to an external reference.

PREAMP CONNECTOR This 9 pin "D" connector provides power and control signals to external

preamplifiers such as the SR550 and SR552. The power connections are described below.

Pin Voltage 1 +20V 2 +5V 6 -20V 7 Signal Ground 8 Ground

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Rear Panel

Using SRS Preamps When using either the SR550 or SR552, connect the power cable (stan-

dard 9 pin D connectors) from the preamp to the rear panel preamp connector on the SR830. Use BNC cables to connect the A output from the preamp to the A input of the SR830. The B output from the preamp (preamp ground) may be connected to the B input of the SR830. In this case, use A-B as the input configuration. Be sure to twist the A and B cables so that there is no differential noise pickup between the cables.

The SR550 and SR552 are AC coupled from 1 Hz to 100 kHz. Set the SR830 to AC coupled since the signal must be above

1 Hz. The SR550 has an input impedance of 100 MΩ, the SR552 has 100 kΩ.

The SR830 does NOT compensate for the gain of the preamp. The SR830 sets both preamps to their maximum gains.

Measurements made by the SR830 with a preamp need to be divided by the gain of the preamp. The SR550 has a gain of 10 and the SR552 has a gain of 100.

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Rear Panel

4-30

INTRODUCTION

REMOTE PROGRAMMING

The SR830 DSP Lock-in Amplifier may be remotely programmed via either the RS232 or GPIB (IEEE-488) interfaces. Any computer supporting one of these interfaces may be used to program the SR830. Both interfaces are receiving at all times, however, the SR830 will send responses

to only one interface. Specify the output interface with the [Setup] key or use the OUTX command at the beginning of every program to direct the responses to the correct interface.

COMMUNICATING WITH GPIB

The SR830 supports the IEEE-488.1 (1978) interface standard. It also supports the required common commands of the IEEE-488.2 (1987) standard. Before attempting to communicate with the SR830 over the GPIB interface, the SR830's device address must be set. The address is set with the [Setup] key and may be set between 1 and 30.

COMMUNICATING WITH RS232

The SR830 is configured as a DCE ( transmit on pin 3, receive on pin 2) device and supports CTS/ DTR hardware handshaking. The CTS signal (pin

5) is an output indicating that the SR830 is ready, while the DTR signal (pin 20) is an input that is used to control the SR830's data transmission. If desired, the handshake pins may be ignored and a simple 3 wire interface (pins 2,3 and 7) may be used. The RS232 interface baud rate and parity must be set. These are set with the [Setup] key. The RS232 word length is always 8 bits.

completed. To help find program errors, the SR830 can display its receive buffer on the displays. Use the [Setup] key to access the QUEUE display. The last 256 characters received by the SR830 may be displayed in hexadecimal ASCII. See the OPERATION section for a complete description.

COMMAND SYNTAX

Communications with the SR830 uses ASCII characters. Commands may be in either UPPER or lower case and may contain any number of embedded space characters. A command to the SR830 consists of a four character command mnemonic, arguments if necessary, and a command terminator. The terminator must be a linefeed <lf> or carriage return <cr> on RS232, or a linefeed <lf> or EOI on GPIB. No command processing occurs until a command terminator is received. Commands function identically on GPIB and RS232 whenever possible. Command mnemonics beginning with an asterisk "❊" are IEEE-

488.2 (1987) defined common commands. These commands also function identically on RS232. Commands may require one or more parameters. Multiple parameters are separated by commas (,).

Multiple commands may be sent on one command line by separating them with semicolons (;). The difference between sending several commands on the same line and sending several independent commands is that when a command line is parsed and executed, the entire line is executed before any other device action proceeds.

STATUS INDICATORS AND QUEUES

To assist in programming, the SR830 has 4 interface status indicators. The ACTIVE indicator flashes whenever a character is received or transmitted over either interface. The ERROR indicator flashes when an error, such as an illegal command, or parameter out of range, has been detected. The REMOTE indicator is on whenever the SR830 is in a remote state (front panel locked out). The SRQ indicator is on when the SR830 generates a service request. SRQ stays on until a serial poll is

There is no need to wait between commands. The SR830 has a 256 character input buffer and processes commands in the order received. If the buffer fills up, the SR830 will hold off handshaking on the GPIB and attempt to hold off handshaking on RS232. Similarly, the SR830 has a 256 character output buffer to store outputs until the host computer is ready to receive. If either buffer overflows, both buffers are cleared and an error reported.

The present value of a particular parameter may

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Remote Programming

be determined by querying the SR830 for its value. A query is formed by appending a question mark "?" to the command mnemonic and omitting the desired parameter(s) from the command. Values returned by the SR830 are sent as a string of ASCII characters terminated by a carriage return <cr> on RS232 and by a line-feed <lf> on GPIB. If multiple queries are sent on one command line (separated by semicolons, of course) the answers will be returned individually, each with a terminator.

Examples of Command Formats FMOD 1 <lf> Set reference source to

internal

FREQ 10E3 <lf> Set the internal reference fre-

quency to 10000 Hz (10 kHz)

❊IDN? <lf> Queries the device

identification STRT <lf> Starts data acquisition OUTP? 1 <lf> Queries the value of X

INTERFACE READY AND STATUS

and LIAS? status query commands may be used to query the Status Bytes. Since the SR830 processes one command at a time, the status query will not be processed until the previous operation is finished. Thus a response to the status query in itself signals that the previous command is finished. The query response may then be checked for various errors.

GET (GROUP EXECUTE TRIGGER)

The GPIB interface command GET is the same as the TRIG command. GET is the same as a trigger input. GET only has an effect if the sampling rate is triggered or if triggers start a scan.

The Interface Ready bit (bit 1) in the Serial Poll Status Byte signals that the SR830 is ready to receive and execute a command. When a command is received, this bit is cleared indicating that an operation is in progress. While the operation is in progress, no other commands will be processed. Commands received during this time are stored in the buffer to be processed later. Only GPIB serial polling will generate a response while a command is in progress. When the command execution terminates, the Interface Ready bit is set again and new commands will be processed. Since most commands execute very quickly, the host computer does not need to continually check the Interface Ready bit. Commands may be sent one after another and they will be processed immediately.

When using the GPIB interface, serial polling may be used to check the Interface Ready bit in the Serial Poll Byte while an operation is in progress. After the Interface Ready bit becomes set, signalling the completion of the command, then the ERR or ESB bit may be checked to verify successful completion of the command.

If the RS232 interface is used, or serial polling is not available, then the ❊STB?, ❊ESR?, ERRS?,

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DETAILED COMMAND LIST

The four letter mnemonic in each command sequence specifies the command. The rest of the sequence consists of parameters. Multiple parameters are separated by commas. Parameters shown in { } are optional or may be queried while those not in { } are required. Commands that may be queried have a question mark in parentheses (?) after the mnemonic. Commands that may ONLY be queried have a ? after the mnemonic. Commands that MAY NOT be queried have no ?. Do not send ( ) or { } as part of the command.

The variables are defined as follows.

i, j, k, l, m integers

x, y, z real numbers

f frequency

s string

All numeric variables may be expressed in integer, floating point or exponential formats ( i.e., the number five can be either 5, 5.0, or .5E1). Strings are sent as a sequence of ASCII characters.

Remember! All responses are directed only to the selected output interface!

Use the OUTX command to select the correct interface at the beginning of every program.

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Remote Programming

REFERENCE and PHASE COMMANDS

PHAS (?) {x} The PHAS command sets or queries the reference phase shift. The

parameter x is the phase (real number of degrees). The PHAS x command will set the phase shift to x. The value of x will be rounded to 0.01°. The phase may be programmed from -360.00 ≤ x ≤ 729.99 and will be wrapped around at ±180°. For example, the PHAS 541.0 command will set the phase to -179.00° (541-360=181=-179). The PHAS? queries the phase shift.

FMOD (?) {i} The FMOD command sets or queries the reference source. The parame-

ter i selects internal (i=1) or external (i=0).

FREQ (?) {f} The FREQ command sets or queries the reference frequency. The

FREQ? query command will return the reference frequency (in internal or external mode).

The FREQ f command sets the frequency of the internal oscillator. This command is allowed only if the reference source is internal. The parameter f is a frequency (real number of Hz). The value of f will be rounded to 5 digits or 0.0001 Hz, whichever is greater. The value of f is limited to

0.001 ≤ f ≤ 102000. If the harmonic number is greater than 1, then the frequency is limited to nxf ≤ 102 kHz where n is the harmonic number.

RSLP (?) {i} The RSLP command sets or queries the reference trigger when using the

external reference mode. The parameter i selects sine zero crossing (i=0), TTL rising edge (i=1), , or TTL falling edge (i=2). At frequencies below 1 Hz, the a TTL reference must be used.

HARM (?) {i} The HARM command sets or queries the detection harmonic. This

parameter is an integer from 1 to 19999. The HARM i command will set the lock-in to detect at the ith harmonic of the reference frequency. The

value of i is limited by ixf ≤ 102 kHz. If the value of i requires a detection frequency greater than 102 kHz, then the harmonic number will be set to the largest value of i such that ixf ≤ 102 kHz.

SLVL (?) {x} The SLVL command sets or queries the amplitude of the sine output.

The parameter x is a voltage (real number of Volts). The value of x will be rounded to 0.002V. The value of x is limited to 0.004 ≤ x ≤ 5.000.

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Remote Programming

INPUT and FILTER COMMANDS

ISRC (?) {i} The ISRC command sets or queries the input configuration. The parame-

ter i selects A (i=0), A-B (i=1), I (1 MΩ) (i=2) or I (100 MΩ) (i=3). Changing the current gain does not change the instrument sensitivity.

Sensitivities above 10 nA require a current gain of 1 MΩ. Sensitivities between 20 nA and 1 µA automatically select the 1 MΩ current gain. At sensitivities below 20 nA, changing the sensitivity does not change the current gain.

IGND (?) {i} The IGND command sets or queries the input shield grounding. The

parameter i selects Float (i=0) or Ground (i=1).

ICPL (?) {i} The ICPL command sets or queries the input coupling. The parameter i

selects AC (i=0) or DC (i=1).

ILIN (?) {i} The ILIN command sets or queries the input line notch filter status. The

parameter i selects Out or no filters (i=0), Line notch in (i=1), 2xLine notch in (i=2) or Both notch filters in (i=3).

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Remote Programming

GAIN and TIME CONSTANT COMMANDS

SENS (?) {i} The SENS command sets or queries the sensitivity. The parameter i

selects a sensitivity below.

i sensitivity i sensitivity 0 2 nV/fA 13 50 µV/pA 1 5 nV/fA 14 100 µV/pA 2 10 nV/fA 15 200 µV/pA 3 20 nV/fA 16 500 µV/pA 4 50 nV/fA 17 1 mV/nA 5 100 nV/fA 18 2 mV/nA 6 200 nV/fA 19 5 mV/nA 7 500 nV/fA 20 10 mV/nA 8 1 µV/pA 21 20 mV/nA 9 2 µV/pA 22 50 mV/nA 10 5 µV/pA 23 100 mV/nA 11 10 µV/pA 24 200 mV/nA 12 20 µV/pA 25 500 mV/nA

26 1 V/µA

RMOD (?) {i} The RMOD command sets or queries the reserve mode. The parameter i

selects High Reserve (i=0), Normal (i=1) or Low Noise (minimum) (i=2). See the description of the [Reserve] key for the actual reserves for each sensitivity.

OFLT (?) {i} The OFLT command sets or queries the time constant. The parameter i

selects a time constant below.

i time constant i time constant 0 10 µs 10 1 s 1 30 µs 11 3 s 2 100 µs 12 10 s 3 300 µs 13 30 s 4 1 ms 14 100 s 5 3 ms 15 300 s 6 10 ms 16 1 ks 7 30 ms 17 3 ks 8 100 ms 18 10 ks 9 300 ms 19 30 ks

Time constants greater than 30s may NOT be set if the harmonic x ref. frequency (detection frequency) exceeds 200 Hz. Time

constants shorter than the minimum time constant (based upon the filter slope and dynamic reserve) will set the time constant to the minimum allowed time constant. See the Gain and TIme Constant operation section.

OFSL (?) {i} The OFSL command sets or queries the low pass filter slope. The

parameter i selects 6 dB/oct (i=0), 12 dB/oct (i=1), 18 dB/oct (i=2) or 24 dB/oct (i=3).

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SYNC (?) {i} The SYNC command sets or queries the synchronous filter status. The

parameter i selects Off (i=0) or synchronous filtering below 200 Hz (i=1). Synchronous filtering is turned on only if the detection frequency (reference x harmonic number) is less than 200 Hz.

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Remote Programming

DISPLAY and OUTPUT COMMANDS

DDEF (?) i {, j, k} The DDEF command selects the CH1 and CH2 displays. The parameter

i selects CH1 (i=1) or CH2 (i=2) and is required. The DDEF i, j, k command sets display i to parameter j with ratio k as listed below.

CH1 (i=1) CH2 (i=2) j display j display 0 X 0 Y

1 R 1 θ 2 X Noise 2 Y Noise

3 Aux In 1 3 Aux In 3 4 Aux In 2 4 Aux In 4

k ratio k ratio 0 none 0 none 1 Aux In 1 1 Aux In 3 2 Aux In 2 2 Aux In 4

The DDEF? i command queries the display and ratio of display i. The returned string contains both j and k separated by a comma. For exam-

ple, if the DDEF? 1 command returns "1,0" then the CH1 display is R with no ratio.

FPOP (?) i {, j} The FPOP command sets or queries the front panel (CH1 and CH2)

output sources. The parameter i selects CH1 (i=1) or CH2 (i=2) and is required. The FPOP i, j command sets output i to quantity j where j is listed below.

CH1 (i=1) CH2 (i=2) j output quantity j output quantity 0 CH 1 Display 0 CH 2 Display 1 X 1 Y

OEXP (?) i {, x, j} The OEXP command sets or queries the output offsets and expands.

The parameter i selects X (i=1), Y (i=2) or R (i=3) and is required. The parameter x is the offset in percent (-105.00 ≤ x ≤ 105.00). The parameter j selects no expand (j=0), expand by 10 (j=1) or 100 (j=2). The OEXP i, x, j command will set the offset and expand for quantity i. This command requires BOTH x and j. The OEXP? i command queries the offset and expand of quantity i. The returned string contains both the offset and expand separated by a comma. For example, if the OEXP? 2 command returns "50.00,1" then the Y offset is 50.00% and the Y expand is 10.

Setting an offset to zero turns the offset off. Querying an offset which is off will return 0% for the offset value.

AOFF i The AOFF i command automatically offsets X (i=1), Y (i=2) or R (i=3) to

zero. The parameter i is required. This command is equivalent to pressing the [Auto Offset] keys.

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Remote Programming

AUX INPUT and OUTPUT COMMANDS

OAUX? i The OAUX? command queries the Aux Input values. The parameter i

selects an Aux Input (1, 2, 3 or 4) and is required. The Aux Input voltages are returned as ASCII strings with units of Volts. The resolution is 1/3 mV. This command is a query only command.

AUXV (?) i {, x} The AUXV command sets or queries the Aux Output voltage when the

output. The parameter i selects an Aux Output (1, 2, 3 or 4) and is required. The parameter x is the output voltage (real number of Volts) and is limited to -10.500 ≤ x ≤ 10.500. The output voltage will be set to the nearest mV.

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SETUP COMMANDS

OUTX (?) {i} The OUTX command sets the output interface to RS232 (i=0) or GPIB

(i=1). The OUTX i command should be sent before any query commands to direct the responses to the interface in use.

OVRM i In general, every GPIB interface command will put the SR830 into the

REMOTE state with the front panel deactivated. To defeat this feature, use the OVRM 1 command to overide the GPIB remote. In this mode, the front panel is not locked out when the unit is in the REMOTE state. The OVRM 0 command returns the unit to normal remote operation.

KCLK (?) {i} The KCLK command sets or queries the key click On (i=1) or Off (i=0)

state.

ALRM (?) {i} The ALRM command sets or queries the alarm On (i=1) or Off (i=0)

state.

SSET i The SSET i command saves the lock-in setup in setting buffer i (1≤i≤9).

The setting buffers are retained when the power is turned off.

RSET i The RSET i command recalls the lock-in setup from setting buffer i

(1≤i≤9). Interface parameters are not changed when a setting buffer is recalled with the RSET command. If setting i has not been saved prior to the RSET i command, then an error will result.

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Remote Programming

AUTO FUNCTIONS

AGAN The AGAN command performs the Auto Gain function. This command is

the same as pressing the [Auto Gain] key. Auto Gain may take some time if the time constant is long. AGAN does nothing if the time constant is greater than 1 second. Check the command execution in progress bit in the Serial Poll Status Byte (bit 1) to determine when the function is finished.

ARSV The ARSV command performs the Auto Reserve function. This com-

mand is the same as pressing the [Auto Reserve] key. Auto Reserve may take some time. Check the command execution in progress bit in the Serial Poll Status Byte (bit 1) to determine when the function is finished.

APHS The APHS command performs the Auto Phase function. This command

is the same as pressing the [Auto Phase] key. The outputs will take many time constants to reach their new values. Do not send the APHS command again without waiting the appropriate amount of time. If the phase is unstable, then APHS will do nothing. Query the new value of the phase shift to see if APHS changed the phase shift.

AOFF i The AOFF i command automatically offsets X (i=1), Y (i=2) or R (i=3) to

zero. The parameter i is required. This command is equivalent to pressing the [Auto Offset] keys.

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Remote Programming

DATA STORAGE COMMANDS

Data Storage

The SR830 can store up to 16383 points from both the Channel 1 and Channel 2 displays in an internal data buffer. The data buffer is NOT retained when the power is turned off. The data buffer is accessible only via the computer interface.

Configure the displays to show the desired quantity (with appropriate ratio, offset and expand). The data buffer stores the quantities which are displayed. Only quantities which are displayed on the CH1 or CH2 displays can be stored. Frequency, for example, can not be stored.

Data Points and Bins

Data points stored in the buffer are sometimes referred to by their bin position within the buffer. The oldest data point is bin0, the next point is bin1, etc. A buffer with N points numbers them from 0 to N-1.

Sample Rate

The Sample Rate can be varied from 512 Hz down to 62.5 mHz (1 point every 16 sec). The sample rate sets how often points are added to the storage buffer. Both displays are sampled at the same rate (and at the same times).

In addition to the internal sample rates, samples can be triggered by an external TTL trigger. In this mode, a sample is recorded within 2 ms of a rising edge trigger on the rear panel Trigger input. Triggers which occur faster than 512 Hz are ignored.

Storage Time

The buffer holds 16383 samples taken at the sample rate. The entire storage time is 16383 divided by the sample rate.

End of Scan

When the buffer becomes full, data storage can stop or continue. The first case is called 1 Shot (data points are stored for a single buffer length). At the end of the buffer, data

storage stops and an audio alarm sounds. The second case is called Loop. In this case, data storage continues at the end of the buffer. The data buffer

will store 16383 points and start storing at the beginning again. The most recent 16383 points will be contained in the buffer. Once the buffer has looped around, the oldest point (at any time) is at bin#0 and the most recent point is at bin#16382.

The default mode is Loop.

Starting and Stopping a Scan

The STRT, PAUS and REST commands are used to control data storage. Basically, the STRT command starts data storage after a reset or pause. The PAUS command pauses data storage but does not reset the buffer. The REST stops data storage and resets the buffer data.

In addition, the rear panel Trigger input can be used to start data storage. To select this mode, use the TSTR command. In this mode, a rising TTL trigger will act the same as the STRT command. The sample rate can be either internal or Triggered. In the first case, the trigger starts the storage and data is sampled at the programmed sample rate (up to 512 Hz). In the latter case, the first trigger will start the storage and data will be sampled at every subsequent trigger.

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Remote Programming

Aliasing Effects

In any sampled data stream, it is possible to sample a high frequency signal such that it will appear to be a much lower frequency. This is called aliasing.

For example, suppose the lock-in is detecting a signal near 1 Hz with a relatively short time constant. The X output will have a DC component and a 2 Hz component (2xf). If the sample rate is 2 Hz, then the samples may be taken as illustrated below.

1 second

The samples represent a sine wave much slower than 2 Hz that isn't actually present in the output! In this case, a much higher sampling rate will solve the problem.

Aliasing occurs whenever the output signal being sampled contains signals at frequencies greater than 1/2 the sample rate. The effect is most noticeable when trying to sample an output frequency at an inte-

ger multiple of the sample rate (as above). The above aliasing problem will be the same for a 1 kHz output (500 times the sample rate) as for the 2 Hz output.

Generally, the highest possible sample rate should be used given the desired storage time. The lock-in time constant and filter slope should be chosen to attenuate signals at frequencies higher than 1/2 the sample rate as much as possible.

SRAT (?) {i} The SRAT command sets or queries the data sample rate. The parame-

ter i selects the sample rate listed below.

i quantity i quantity

0 62.5 mHz 7 8 Hz

1 125 mHz 8 16 Hz

2 250 mHz 9 32 Hz

3 500 mHz 10 64 Hz

4 1 Hz 11 128 Hz

5 2 Hz 12 256 Hz

6 4 Hz 13 512 Hz

14 Trigger

SEND (?) {i} The SEND command sets or queries the end of buffer mode. The param-

eter i selects 1 Shot (i=0) or Loop (i=1). If Loop mode is used, make sure to pause data storage before reading the data to avoid confusion about which point is the most recent.

TRIG The TRIG command is the software trigger command. This command

has the same effect as a trigger at the rear panel trigger input.

TSTR (?) {i} The TSTR command sets or queries the trigger start mode. The parame-

ter i=1 selects trigger starts the scan and i=0 turns the trigger start feature off.

STRT The STRT command starts or resumes data storage. STRT is ignored if

storage is already in progress.

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Remote Programming

PAUS The PAUS command pauses data storage. If storage is already paused

or reset then this command is ignored.

REST The REST command resets the data buffers. The REST command can

be sent at any time - any storage in progress, paused or not, will be reset. This command will erase the data buffer.

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Remote Programming

DATA TRANSFER COMMANDS

OUTP ? i The OUTP? i command reads the value of X, Y, R or θ. The parameter

i selects X (i=1), Y (i=2), R (i=3) or θ (i=4). Values are returned as ASCII floating point numbers with units of Volts or degrees. For example, the

response might be "-1.01026". This command is a query only command.

OUTR ? i The OUTR? i command reads the value of the CH1 or CH2 display.

The parameter i selects the display (i=1 or 2). Values are returned as ASCII floating point numbers with units of the display. For example, the response might be "-1.01026". This command is a query only command.

SNAP ? i,j {,k,l,m,n} The SNAP? command records the values of either 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 param-

eters at a single instant. For example, SNAP? is a way to query values of X and Y (or R and θ) which are taken at the same time. This is important

when the time constant is very short. Using the OUTP? or OUTR? commands will result in time delays, which may be greater than the time con-

stant, between reading X and Y (or R and θ). The SNAP? command requires at least two parameters and at most six

parameters. The parameters i, j, k, l, m, n select the parameters below.

i,j,k,l,m,n parameter

1 X

2 Y

3 R

4 θ

5 Aux In 1

6 Aux In 2

7 Aux In 3

8 Aux In 4

9 Reference Frequency

10 CH1 display

11 CH2 display

The requested values are returned in a single string with the values separated by commas and in the order in which they were requested. For example, the SNAP?1,2,9,5 will return the values of X, Y, Freq and Aux In 1. These values will be returned in a single string such as "0.951359,0.0253297,1000.00,1.234". The first value is X, the second is Y, the third is f, and the fourth is Aux In 1.

The values of X and Y are recorded at a single instant. The values of R and θ are also recorded at a single instant. Thus reading X,Y OR R,θ

yields a coherent snapshot of the output signal. If X,Y,R and θ are all read, then the values of X,Y are recorded approximately 10µs apart from

R,θ. Thus, the values of X and Y may not yield the exact values of R and θ from a single SNAP? query.

The values of the Aux Inputs may have an uncertainty of up to 32µs. The frequency is computed only every other period or 40 ms, whichever is longer.

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Remote Programming

The SNAP? command is a query only command. The SNAP? command is used to record various parameters simultaneously, not to transfer data quickly.

OAUX? i The OAUX? command reads the Aux Input values. The parameter i

selects an Aux Input (1, 2, 3 or 4) and is required. The Aux Input voltages are returned as ASCII strings with units of Volts. The resolution is 1/3 mV. This command is a query only command.

SPTS ? The SPTS? command queries the number of points stored in the buffer.

Both displays have the same number of points. If the buffer is reset, then 0 is returned. Remember, SPTS? returns N where N is the number of points - the points are numbered from 0 (oldest) to N-1 (most recent). The SPTS? command can be sent at any time, even while storage is in progress. This command is a query only command.

TRCA ? i, j, k The TRCA? command queries the points stored in the Channel i buffer.

The values are returned as ASCII floating point numbers with the units of the trace. Multiple points are separated by commas and the final point is followed by a terminator. For example, the response with two points might be "-1.234567e-009,+7.654321e-009,".

The parameter i selects the display buffer (i=1, 2) and is required. Points are read from the buffer starting at bin j (j≥0). A total of k bins are read (k≥1). To read a single point, set k=1. Both j and k are required. If j+k exceeds the number of stored points (as returned by the SPTS? query), then an error occurs. Remember, SPTS? returns N where N is the total number of bins - the TRCA? command numbers the bins from 0 (oldest) to N-1 (most recent). If data storage is set to Loop mode, make sure that storage is paused before reading any data. This is because the points are indexed relative to the most recent point which is continually changing.

TRCB ? i, j, k The TRCB? command queries the points stored in the Channel i buffer.

The values are returned as IEEE format binary floating point numbers (with the units of the trace). There are 4 bytes per point. Multiple points are not separated by any delimiter. The bytes can be read directly into a floating point array (in most languages).

Do not query the IFC (no command in progress) status bit after sending the TRCB command. This bit will not be set until the transfer is complete.

When using the GPIB interface, EOI is sent with the final byte. The points must be read using a binary transfer (see your GPIB interface card software manual). Make sure that the software is configured to NOT terminate reading upon receipt of a CR or LF.

When using the RS232 interface, the word length must be 8 bits. The points must be read as binary bytes (no checking for linefeeds, carriage returns or other control characters). Most serial interface drivers are designed for ASCII text only and will not work here. In addition, the data transfer does not pause between bytes. The receiving interface must always be ready to receive the next byte. In general, using binary trans-

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Remote Programming

fers on the RS232 interface is not recommended.

The parameter i selects the display buffer (i=1, 2) and is required. Points are read from the buffer starting at bin j (j≥0). A total of k bins are read (k≥1) for a total transfer of 4k bytes. To read a single point, set k=1. Both j and k are required. If j+k exceeds the number of stored points (as returned by the SPTS? query), then an error occurs. Remember, SPTS? returns N where N is the total number of bins - the TRCB? command numbers the bins from 0 (oldest) to N-1 (most recent). If data storage is set to Loop mode, make sure that storage is paused before reading any data. This is because the points are indexed relative to the most recent point which is continually changing.

TRCL ? i, j, k The TRCL? command queries the points stored in the Channel i buffer.

The values are returned in a non-normalized floating point format (with the units of the trace). There are 4 bytes per point. Multiple points are not separated by any delimiter. The bytes CANNOT be read directly into a floating point array.

Each point consists of four bytes. Byte 0 is the LSB and Byte 3 is the MSB. The format is illustrated below.

16 bits 16 bits

byte3 byte2 byte1 byte0

The mantissa is a signed 16 bit integer (-32768 to 32767). The exponent is a signed integer whose value ranges from 0 to 248 (thus byte 3 is always zero). The value of a data point is simply,

value = m x 2 where m is the mantissa and exp is the exponent. The data within the SR830 is stored in this format. Data transfers using

this format are faster than IEEE floating point format. If data transfer speed is important, the TRCL? command should be used.

Do not query the IFC (no command in progress) status bit after sending the TRCL command. This bit will not be set until the transfer is complete.

exp mantissa

(exp-124)

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Stanford Research Systems SR830 Specifications Sheet

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual