AWG Waveforms¶

The following guide gives an overview of the waveform upload and usage within the zhinst-labber drivers. The guide is valid for all instruments that have an AWG core / generator.

CSV upload¶

The first way to upload a waveform through Labber is the upload via a CSV file. A generator channel support the upload of a single complex waveform and the AWG channel allows the upload of 2 waves and markers.

The format of CSV file is the following:

Each row represents one waveform
Delimiter: ,
If the waveform for the given index/slot should be ignored the respective row can be empty.

To upload a waveform to index 0 and index 2 the CSV file could look like that

0,0.1,0.2,0.3,0.2,0.1,0.0

0,-0.1,-0.2,-0.3,-0.2,-0.1,0.0

zhinst-labber provides an easy way to generate the CSV files within python. The function export_waveforms can be used to export a zhinst.toolkit.Waveforms object to one or multiple CSV files. The Waveforms class is a dictionary like class. The keys represent the awg index and the value can either be a single waveform or 2 waveforms and an optional marker. Take a look at the respective toolkit example to see an in-depth introduction into the Waveforms class.

AWG Waveform export example:

from zhinst.toolkit import Waveforms
from zhinst.labber import export_waveforms
from pathlib import Path
import numpy as np

waveforms = Waveforms()
waveforms.assign_waveform(
    slot=1,
    wave1=np.sin(np.linspace(0, 2 * np.pi, 1000)
    wave2=np.cos(np.linspace(0, 2 * np.pi, 1000))
    marker=np.ones(1000)
)
waveforms.assign_waveform(
    slot=3,
    wave1=-1.0 * np.blackman(1000)
)
export_waveforms(waveforms, Path("generated_waveforms"))

complex generator Waveform export example:

from zhinst.toolkit import Waveforms
from zhinst.labber import export_waveforms
from pathlib import Path
import numpy as np

complex_wave = np.zeros(1000, dtype=complex)
complex_wave.real = np.sin(np.linspace(0, 2 * np.pi, 1000))
complex_wave.imag = np.cos(np.linspace(0, 2 * np.pi, 1000))
waveforms = Waveforms()
waveforms.assign_waveform(
    slot=1,
    wave1=complex_wave
)
waveforms.assign_waveform(
    slot=3,
    wave1=-complex_wave
)
export_waveforms(waveforms, Path("generated_waveforms"))

Waveform Processor upload¶

Often the waveforms for specific applications can be generated within another instrument in Labber (e.g. SingleQubitPulseGenerator). Since the Waveform Nodes of the AWG format have a special format one can not directly connect the two quantities directly. Also it is impractical to log the waveforms in their original format since one can not directly see the separate waves.

To be able to do this zhinst-labber also provides a virtual Instrument called Zurich_Instruments_Waveform_Processor. It converts between the native Zurich Instrument waveform format and Labber Arrays. All of the exposed array quantities can be used as input or outputs.

On the device side the following quantities exist:

Interleaved - Signal
Complex - Signal

On the Labber side the following counterparts exist:

Wave 1 - Signal
Wave 2 - Signal
Marker - Signal

The following scenarios are the most useful ones (but all combinations are possible):

Route two real waveforms to a single device waveform channel. The two input signals are routed to Wave 1 - Signal and Wave 2 - Signal and the Interleaved - Signal is routed to the awg waveform quantity (e.g. AWG - Waveforms - 0 - Wave). (The marker array can also be specified if needed.)
Route two real waveforms to a complex waveform channel. The two input signals are routed to Wave 1 - Signal and Wave 2 - Signal. The Complex - Signal combines these two into a complex waveform. The first wave is the real part and the second wave is the imaginary part.
Log a waveform in a way that Labber can display it. The native awg waveform from the device (e.g. AWG - Waveforms - 0 - Wave) is routed to Interleaved - Signal. Since one can not detect which format the waveform is in the following quantities may need to be adjusted:
- Interleaved - Num - Channels (Either 1 or 2)
- Interleaved - Marker - Present (True if a marker is present in the signal)
Wave 1 - Signal, Wave 2 - Signal and Marker - Signal can no be logged and contain the respective part of the original waveform.

Sequencer Code

Integration weights