Tutorials

These tutorials introduce users to the basic technique of lock-in amplification, host-based lock-in amplifier operation, and the LabOne user interface. The tutorials require basic laboratory equipment and handling knowledge.

Note

For all tutorials, you must have LabOne installed as described in the Getting Started.

At their most basic, lock-in amplifier experiments fall into two categories: external-reference and internal-reference.

In external-reference experiments, the reference signal that carries the frequency information is generated outside of the lock-in amplifier and so it needs to be provided to it. Experiments with pulsed or chopped lasers, for example, fall under this category.

Conversely, in internal-reference experiments, the reference or driving signal is generated by the lock-in amplifier itself, so the frequency information is already present within the instrument. This category contains, for instance, the characterization of sensors and electronic devices, transport measurements, Hall effect measurements and so on. A further class of internal-reference experiments closes a feedback loop on the measured signal, for example to track the resonance frequency of a resonator as it drifts over time.

• The tutorial External reference addresses the external-reference case and helps users get started with this experimental configuration.
• The tutorial Simple loop covers the internal-reference case.
• The tutorial Phase-locked loop builds on the internal-reference case, adding a feedback loop that tracks the resonance frequency of a resonator over time.
• The tutorial Pulse Generation and Acquisition with Timeline explains how to generate and acquire pulse sequences using the Timeline module.