A flexible and scalable, fully software-based lock-in amplifier for nonlinear spectroscopy

Ultra-low noise front-end design for smart optical sensors with high sensitivity and wide dynamic range

Ultra-low noise is a critical component in the design of high-precision sensor front-ends. We introduced differential phase-sensitive detection (d-PSD) to mitigate both multiplicative and additive noise in optical sensors, aiming for an enhanced performance and cost-effectiveness. The d-PSD combines a capacitive transimpedance amplifier (C-TIA), a delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter (ΔΣ-ADC), and a software-based lock-in amplifier (s-LIA). The first two components utilize the DDC112 (a dual current input 20-bit ADC) for a minimal analog channel length, thus reducing noise efficiently, while the latter employs a cost-effective 32-bit microcontroller unit (MCU), the HC32F460. This approach was successfully implemented as the front-end for a smart optical sensor. Testing indicated that the sensor achieved an equivalent current noise level of 0.6 nA/√Hz, primarily attributed to the light source driver rather than the sensor's front-end circuit. The sensor exhibited an exceptional performance, with a 3σ measurement precision of 5.4 × 10-4 over a 1-second integration time and a dynamic range of 100 dB, leveraging the proposed method and design. Furthermore, the front-end of the sensor boasts a compact size, low power consumption, and affordability, making it an ideal, versatile solution for ultra-high precision, smart optical sensors.

In-Loco Optical Spectroscopy through a Multiple Digital Lock-In on a Linear Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) Array

Accurate and reliable measurements of optical properties are crucial for a wide range of industrial and commercial applications. However, external illumination fluctuations can often make these measurements challenging to obtain. This work proposes a new technique based on digital lock-in processing that enables the use of CCD spectrometers in optical spectroscopy applications, even in uncontrolled lighting conditions. This approach leverages digital lock-in processing, performed on each pixel of the spectrometer's CCD simultaneously, to mitigate the impact of external optical interferences. The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated by testing and recovering the spectrum of a yellow LED subjected to other light sources in outdoor conditions, corresponding to a Signal-to-Noise Ratio of -70.45 dB. Additionally, it was possible to demonstrate the method's applicability for the spectroscopic analysis of gold nanoparticles in outdoor conditions. These results suggest that the proposed technique can be helpful for a wide range of optical measurement techniques, even in challenging lighting conditions.

Lock-in amplification based on sigma-delta oversampling

Synchronous detection is used to detect and measure very low-level signals in the presence of significant noise. A defining characteristic of this measurement approach is the use of a periodic probe signal to excite the system under test. This is followed by mixing of the reference signal and its phase-quadrature with the measured signal. Standard analog to digital converters are employed, usually with the mixing and filtering performed digitally. Most practical high-resolution analog to digital converters employ oversampled sigma-delta modulation and are incorporated as a separate functional block. This paper derives a processing algorithm that combines the oversampled analog to digital conversion with signal mixing into one functional block. There are several important advantages of this approach. The computational complexity of the lock-in amplifier is substantially reduced, with no loss of accuracy. Moreover, the requirement for high-resolution analog-to-digital conversion is relaxed; it is replaced with low-resolution high-rate sampling, which is typically much easier to realize in practice. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the correctness of the technique as determined via theory and simulation.

Feedback lock-in: A versatile multi-terminal measurement system for electrical transport devices

We present the design and implementation of a measurement system that enables parallel drive and detection of small currents and voltages at numerous electrical contacts to a multi-terminal electrical device. This system, which we term a feedback lock-in, combines digital control-loop feedback with software-defined lock-in measurements to dynamically source currents and measure small, pre-amplified potentials. The effective input impedance of each current/voltage probe can be set via software, permitting any given contact to behave as an open-circuit voltage lead or as a virtually grounded current source/sink. This enables programmatic switching of measurement configurations and permits measurement of currents at multiple drain contacts without the use of current preamplifiers. Our 32-channel implementation relies on commercially available digital input/output boards, home-built voltage preamplifiers, and custom open-source software. With our feedback lock-in, we demonstrate differential measurement sensitivity comparable to a widely used commercially available lock-in amplifier and perform efficient multi-terminal electrical transport measurements on twisted bilayer graphene and SrTiO₃ quantum point contacts. The feedback lock-in also enables a new style of measurement using multiple current probes, which we demonstrate on a ballistic graphene device.

Transient absorption microscopy setup with multi-ten-kilohertz shot-to-shot subtraction and discrete Fourier analysis

Recording of transient absorption microscopy images requires fast detection of minute optical density changes, which is typically achieved with high-repetition-rate laser sources and lock-in detection. Here, we present a highly flexible and cost-efficient detection scheme based on a conventional photodiode and an USB oscilloscope with MHz bandwidth, that deviates from the commonly used lock-in setup and achieves benchmark sensitivity. Our scheme combines shot-to-shot evaluation of pump-probe and probe-only measurements, a home-built photodetector circuit optimized for low pulse energies applying low-pass amplification, and a custom evaluation algorithm based on Fourier transformation. Advantages of this approach include abilities to simultaneously monitor multiple pulse modulation frequencies, implement the detection of additional pulse sequences (e.g., pump-only), and expand to multiple parallel detection channels for wavelength-dispersive probing. With a 40 kHz repetition-rate laser system powering two non-collinear optical parametric amplifiers for wide tuneability, we find that laser pulse fluctuations limit the sensitivity of the setup, while the detection scheme has negligible contribution. We demonstrate the 2-D imaging performance of our transient absorption microscope with studies on micro-crystalline molecular thin films.

A Software Digital Lock-In Amplifier Method with Automatic Frequency Estimation for Low SNR Multi-Frequency Signal

In the fault diagnosis field, the fault feature signal is weak and contaminated by the noise. The lock-in amplifier is a useful tool for weak signal detection. Aiming to the amplitude error of the lock-in amplifier caused by frequency deviation between the measured signal and the reference signal, a DFT-based automatic signal frequency estimation method is studied to improve the frequency accuracy of the reference signal. Based on this frequency estimation method, a software digital lock-in amplifier method is proposed to detect the multiple frequencies signals. This proposed method can automatically measure the frequency value of the measured signal without prior frequency information. Then, the reference signals are generated through this frequency value to make the digital lock-in amplifier estimate the amplitude of the measured signal. Moreover, an iterative structure is used to implement the multiple frequencies signal measurement. The frequencies and amplitudes measurement accuracies are tested. Under different SNR conditions, the frequency relative error is less than 0.1%. In addition, the amplitude relative error with different signal frequencies is less than 1.7% when the SNR is −1 dB. This proposed software digital lock-in amplifier method has a higher signal frequency tracking ability and amplitude measurement accuracy.

Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy: the continuing evolution of a mature technique

Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (TRPES) has become one of the most widespread techniques for probing nonadiabatic dynamics in the excited electronic states of molecules. Furthermore, the complementary development of ab initio approaches for the simulation of TRPES signals has enabled the interpretation of these transient spectra in terms of underlying coupled electronic-nuclear dynamics. In this perspective, we discuss the current state-of-the-art approaches, including efforts to push femtosecond pulses into vacuum ultraviolet and soft X-ray regimes as well as the utilization of novel polarizations to use time-resolved optical activity as a probe of nonadiabatic dynamics. We close this perspective with a forward-looking prospectus on the new areas of application for this technique.