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Calibration Properties

In this chapter, we give a short overview of all possible calibration properties that may be defined on a SignalCalibration and explain possible settings.

For a more in-depth introduction to how Calibration is used, please refer to the Instrument Calibration and Experiment Calibration chapters.

Oscillators

Property relevant for accepted values description
oscillator HDAWG, UHFQA, SHFQA, SHFSG, SHFQC Oscillator object with frequency and modulation_type specified Defines the modulation frequency with which all waveforms played on this signal are modulated. Also determines if the modulation is done through a hardware feature or in software.
local_oscillator SHFQA, SHFSG, SHFQC Oscillator object with frequency specified Defines center frequency of a pair of signal channels

Note

On the SHFSG and SHFQC, pairs of physical output channels may share the same local oscillator.

Delays

Property relevant for accepted values description
port_delay HDAWG, UHFQA (input lines only), SHFQA, SHFSG, SHFQC times in seconds For output lines: defines a delay for signals played on this channel

For input lines: defines a delay between the start of the readout pulse playback and the start of the integration

Implemented through hardware settings, has no effect on the pulse sheet.
delay_signal HDAWG, UHFQA, SHFQA, SHFSG, SHFQC times in seconds Same as port_delay but implemented through shifting the playback in software. Will be visible in the pulse sheet

Note

The delays on the SHFQA output lines are also added to the SHFQA input lines. The signal acquisition on a SHFQA channel pair can therefore only start at or after the generation of the corresponding readout signal.

Mixer Calibration

Property relevant for accepted values description
mixer_calibration HDAWG (iq_signals only) MixerCalibration object, which takes a list of voltage_offsets and a mixer correction_matrix Sets offsets and a calibration matrix to compensate for imperfections in the up-conversion setup

Range

Property relevant for accepted values description
range SHFQA, SHFSG, SHFQC Power value in dBm Sets the power range of the channel

Threshold

Table 1: Threshold Calibration Property
Property relevant for accepted values description
threshold UHFQA (input lines only), SHFQA (input lines only) real number Sets the state discrimination threshold when using AcquisitionType.DISCRIMINATION

Port Mode

Property relevant for accepted values description
port_mode SHFSG, SHFQC (output lines only) Keyword 'RF' or 'LF' Enables ('LF') or disables ('RF') the low frequency path on the up-conversion units

Real-time Precompensation

The real-time precompensation is available on HDAWG instruments with enabled HDAWG-PC option. It provides four different filters that can be configured in order to compensate for pulse distortions:

  • Exponential filters
  • Bounce compensation
  • High-pass compensation
  • FIR filter

For more information on the different filters, please refer to the corresponding chapter in the HDAWG manual.

In LabOne Q, the precompensation is enabled in the setup calibration by adding the following lines to the Calibration object:

precompensation = Precompensation(
    exponential= [
      ExponentialCompensation(timeconstant = 200e-9, amplitude = 0.5),
      ExponentialCompensation(timeconstant = 33e-9, amplitude = 0.7),
      ## ...
      ## up to 8 different filters
      ],
    high_pass = HighPassCompensation(timeconstant = 300e-9),
    bounce = BounceCompensation(delay = 5e-9, amplitude = 0.4),
    ## fir_coefs is an array containing all 40 coefficients
    FIR = FIRCompensation(coefficients = fir_coefs)
)
Property relevant for accepted values description
precompensation HDAWG (with PC option enabled) Precompensation object Contains the various filters (exponential, high_pass, bounce, FIR) with the corresponding properties such as time constants, amplitudes and coefficients.

Precompensation filters can be enabled on signal lines of type iq_signal and rf_signal. In order to preserve the correct pulse timing, the high-pass compensation can only be enabled pair-wise on signal lines of type rf_signal that are mapped to the same AWG core.

Clearing the high-pass compensation filter

The I.I.R. high-pass filter requires regular clearing to avoid an output overflow. Typically, the clearing is done in between quantum experiments so the occurring voltage jump on the affected signal output does not interfere with the qubit. In LabOne Q, the high-pass filter can be cleared during a delay instruction, for example while the experiment is waiting for the readout resonator to relax. The delay time must be at least 32 samples (13.33 ns or 16 ns depending on the sampling rate):

exp.delay(signal="flux_line", time=500e-9, precompensation_clear=True)

Note, that the clearing of the high-pass filter is a control element, thus the containing section is padded to the sequencer grid (see the timing rules).