Functional Overview

The HDAWG Instrument consists of several internal units that process digital data (light blue color) and several interface units processing analog signals (dark blue color). The front panel is depicted on the left-hand side and the back panel is depicted on the right-hand side. The arrows between the panels and the interface units indicate selected physical connections and the data flow. Information indicated in orange is linked to options that can be either ordered at purchase or upgraded later. The HDAWG Arbitrary Waveform Generator comes in two model variants, the HDAWG4 (4 channels) and the HDAWG8 (8 channels). Ordering Guide details the available upgrade options for each instrument type and whether the corresponding option can be upgraded directly in the field.

The Arbitrary Waveform Generator (AWG), consists of Sequencer to define pulse sequences, and a Waveform Player that selects which waveforms should be played from the Waveform Memory. The output of a single Arbitrary Waveform Generator connects to two analog front-ends. Before the signals are being played, the may be digitally modulated by numerical oscillators that generate sinusoids, or pre-distorted in real-time with the HDAWG-PC option before. Hardware trigger signals and experiment data, e.g. to realize timing synchronization within the instrument or communicate with external equipment, can be accessed through shared communications (32-bit DIO, ZSync).

The front panel SMA connectors and control LEDs are arranged as shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3 and listed in Table 1.

¹ On some instruments, the color of the soft power button LED is blue in these states.

The back panel is the main interface for power, control, service and connectivity to other ZI instruments. Please refer to Figure 4 and Table 2 for the detailed description of the items.

Table 3 provides an overview of the available HDAWG products. Upgradeable features are options that can be purchased anytime without need to send the Instrument to Zurich Instruments.

¹ The upgrade requires the instrument to be returned and calibrated at Zurich Instruments.

¹ Numbers in these lines are divided by 2 in for the HDAWG4 4-channel model variant.

When using the HDAWG and the UHFQA in a Zurich Instruments Quantum Computing Control System, the two instruments need to be connected with a VHDCI cable between their respective DIO ports. Due to the different voltage levels of the DIO connectors on the HDAWG and UHFQA, a passive voltage level shifter needs to be placed in series with the VHDCI connection. It is furthermore recommended to use a mechanical stabilization of the VHDCI connection on the HDAWG side in order to prevent damage to the DIO connector due to cable pull. A set of a VHDCI cable, a level shifter, and a mechanical stabilization part are available as DIO Link Set from Zurich Instruments upon request under support@zhinst.com.

The DIO Link Set is shown in Figure 5.

Please follow the instructions below in order to install the DIO Link Set between the HDAWG and the UHFQA.