Lock-in amplifiers

http://www.lockin.de/
 Signals and noise
Frequency dependence of noise Total noise in 10 Hz bandwidth
Low frequency ~ 1 / f
example: temperature (0.1 Hz) , pressure Signal at DC
(1 Hz), acoustics (10 -- 100 Hz)
1/f noise
High frequency ~ constant = white noise

log(Vnoise)
example: shot noise, Johnson noise,
spontaneous emission noise 10 Hz White noise
Total noise depends strongly on signal freq
worst at DC, best in white noise region
0
Problem -- most signals at DC log( f )
0.1 1 10 100 1kHz
Noise amplitude
Signal at 1 kHz
1/f noise
1/f noise

log(Vnoise)
log(Vnoise)

White noise White noise

10 Hz
0
0
0.1 1 10 100 1kHz log( f )
0.1 1 10 100 1kHz log( f )
 Lock-in amplifiers
Shift signal out to higher frequencies
Approach:
Modulate signal, but not noise, at high freq
no universal technique -- art
example: optical chopper wheel, freq modulation
Detect only at modulation frequency
Noise at all other frequencies averages to zero
Use demodulator and low-pass filter
 Demodulation / Mixing
Multiply input signal by sine wave
Sum and difference freq generated
Compare to signal addition -- interference
Signal frequency close to reference freq
low freq beat
DC for equal freq sine waves
DC output level depends on relative phase

Product

Two sine waves

Sum
 Signal freq approaches ref freq
Beat frequency approaches DC as signal freq approaches ref freq

Reference
Signal freq
vs ref freq
1

1.05
Mixer outputs

1.1

1.15

1.2

1.25
 Phase sensitive detection
Signal freq matches reference freq
Reference = sin(2pft)
Signal = sin(2pft + f)
f is signal phase shift
Product = cos(f) - cos(2pft)

DC part
Signal
phase
Reference wave shift f

0
-- signal times reference

0.2 p
Product waveforms

0.4 p

0.6 p
0.8 p
p
 Low pass filter
Removes noise
Example -- modulate above 1/f noise
noise slow compared to reference freq
noise converted to slowly modulated sine wave
averages out to zero over 1 cycle
Low pass filter integrates out modulated noise
leaves signal alone
Demodulated signal
Lock-in amplifier
After mixer
Mixer Low pass
Input filter Output
Buffer

After mixer & low pass

Voltage
Reference time
 Typical LIA low pass filters
For weak signal buried in noise
Ideal low pass filter blocks all except signal
Approximate ideal filter with cascaded low pass filters

Ideal

6 db/oct

12 db/oct

log
gain 18 db/oct
frequency
 Phase control
Reference has phase control
Can vary from 0 to 360
Arbitrary input signal phase
Tune reference phase to give maximum DC output

Mixer
Input Output

Reference
Phase
shift f
 Reference options
System Lock-in amplifier
Option 1 -- Internal reference Mixer
best performance Signal
stable reference freq
Option 2 -- External reference
System generates reference Reference
ex: chopper wheel
Lock internal ref to system ref
use phase locked loop (PLL) System Lock-in amplifier
source of name lock-in amplifier Mixer
Signal

Reference VCO PLL

Integrate
 Analog mixer
Direct multiplication Multiplying mixer
accurate
not enough dynamic range
weak signal buried in noise
Switching mixer
big dynamic range
but also demodulates harmonics Switching mixer

Harmonic content of square wave

1/3
1/5 1/7 1/9
 Switching mixer design
Sample switching mixer
Back-to-back FETs
example: 1 n-channel & 1 p-channel
feed signal to one FET, inverted signal to second FET
Apply square wave to gates
upper FET conducts on positive part of square wave
lower FET conducts on negative part
Switching mixer circuit

n-channel FET
bias
source drain
gate
n
p
Signal
voltage
 Signals with harmonic content
Option 1: Use multi-switch mixer
approximate sine wave
cancel out first few harmonic signals
Option 2: Filter harmonic content from signal
bandpass filter at input
Q > 100

Lock-in amp with input filter

 Digital mixers
Digitize input with DAC
Multiply in processor
Advantages:
Accurate sine wave multiplication
No DC drift in low pass filters
Digital signal enhancement
Problems:
Need 32 bit DAC for signals buried in noise
Cannot digitize 32 bits at 100 kHz rates
Should be excellent for slow servos
Ex: tele-medicine, temperature controllers
Digital processing can compensate for certain system time delays ?
 Lock-in amps in servos
Lock to resonance peak Take derivative with lock-in
Servos only lock to zero
Need to turn peak into zero
Take derivative of lineshape
modulate x-voltage
F(x)-voltage amplitude like derivative
No fundamental
Use lock-in amp to extract amplitude of F(x)
only 2 f signal
DC part of mixer output
filter with integrator, not low-pass

F(x)

x
 Lock-in amps for derivative
Lock-in turns sine wave signal into DC voltage
At peak of resonance
no signal at modulation freq Input signal
lock-in output crosses zero
Discriminant
use to lock

F(x)

x
Lock-in
output
(derivative)

Zero crossing
at resonance
 Effect of modulation on lineshape
I
Start with resonance lineshape
Intensity vs PZT voltage: I = I0 exp( -V2)

V
Modulate voltage: V= V0 sin (2 p f t)
V

Modified lineshape
t
Analog to numerical derivatives
Derivative is: I = I(V+ DV) - I(V) / DV
Set DV = 1
Modulation replaces DV= V0 sin (2 p f t) I
Derivative is sine wave part
Assumes is V0 small

t
 Effect of modulation amplitude
For large modulation amps
Distortion and broadening Modulation amplitude
Modulation like a noise source
Always use minimum necessary 0.05 linewidth

0.1

0.2

0.5 linewidth

Expanded scan
 Mixer outputs
Modulation amplitude
Maximum mixer output
modulation ~ 1 linewidth 0.1 linewidth
saturates and broadens
0.2

0.5 linewidth

Mixer out
0.1 linewidth

0.2

0.5

2
 Fabry-Perot servo
Lock to peak transmission of high Q Fabry-Perot etalon
Use lock-in amp to give discriminant
No input bandpass -- or low Q < 2
Bandpass rolloff usually 2-pole or greater
No low pass filter -- replace with integrator
Low pass filter removes noise
Need noise to produce correction
Design tips
reference freq must exceed servo bandwidth by factor of ~ 10
but PZT bandwidth is servo limiter
use PZT resonance for modulation

Fabry-Perot

Laser PD LIA

Acoustic noise reference

Sum
& HV