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Frequency-Domain Response of Lock-in Filters

19.03.2019

Theoretical Frequency Response

Introduction The response of a lock-in amplifier is characterized by the parameters of its low-pass filter (LPF), i.e., time constant and filter order. The temporal response of the LPF demonstrates the latency of measurement while its spectral response shows the noise characteristics of measured signals. This blog post explains how...

Gated Data Transfer for Increased Data Sampling Rate

19.12.2018

Plotter Overview

Introduction For measurements of signals that change rapidly, for example, when measuring capacitance transients in deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), high temporal resolution is required. In its standard operating configuration, the MFIA (or the MFLI with the MF-IA option) can sample and transfer impedance data at a continuous rate of...

Square pulses for DLTS Measurements on the MFIA

22.08.2018

MFIA with MFITF

Introduction This blog post shows how to produce square voltage pulses and capture the resulting capacitance transients on a short timescale (20 us), for example, for deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements. Using the LabOne ® Threshold Unit (which comes as a standard with the MFIA), it's possible to produce...

Rapid and Accurate C-V Measurements on the MFIA

19.08.2018

MFIA with MFITF

Fast C-V Measurements up to 3000 V/s This blog post demonstrates the ability of the MFIA (and of the MFLI with the MF-IA option) to measure capacitance on a short timescale (20 us) as a function of DC bias voltage, for example, for fast capacitance-voltage profiling measurements. Voltage sweeps of...

How to Demodulate Multi-frequency Signals such as AM, FM and PM

20.03.2018

Tandem Modulation

Introduction When analyzing signals with multiple frequency components, it is important to measure the amplitude and phase of each frequency component accurately so that a change in the characteristics of one component does not affect the measurement of another frequency component. There are two different approaches to multi-frequency signal demodulation...

Generation of Single-Sideband Modulation by Arbitrary Waveform Generators

15.12.2017

SSB modulation Scheme

Introduction I/Q modulations are extensively used in a variety of applications including telecommunications, quantum computing (QC), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and band-excitation atomic force microscopy (AFM). In this post, we demonstrate how to generate such signals using arbitrary waveform generators from Zurich Instruments with an...

Formation sur les Techniques KFM à Grenoble

29.11.2017

Resume des modes KPFM

Pour la seconde année consécutive, le réseau RéMiSoL, avec le soutien du CEA LETI, de l’IEMN et de partenaires industriels (NanoAndMore, Zurich Instruments), a proposé une action nationale de formation (ANF) CNRS le 7 et 8 novembre sur le thème de la microscopie à sonde de Kelvin (KFM, ou parfois...

Protecting Your Setup From High Voltage Peaks

24.11.2017

Overvoltage protection

This blog post describes how a setup can be protected from overvoltage that occurs when switching off a coil. Fast changing currents induce transient voltages in an inductive load which can be expressed by the formula: V = - L (dI/dt) L is the inductance in Henry and dI/dt is...

Displaying Nyquist Plots on the MFIA Impedance Analyzer

27.09.2017

Frequency Arrow

Nyquist plots are a key tool when displaying complex impedance data. They display the real part of the signal on the X-axis against the imaginary part on the Y-axis. Each point on the plot represents a different frequency. The MFIA (and the MFLI with the MF-IA option) can display impedance...

LCR Meter vs Impedance Analyzer

11.08.2017

Numeric Tab

We are often asked about the difference between LCR meters and impedance analyzers, especially given that the MFIA Impedance Analyzer combines the functionalities of both instruments. LCR meters and impedance analyzers are fundamentally similar, in that they both measure impedance parameters such as capacitance, inductance and resistance.They achieve this by...

SPM User Meeting in Mainz

21.07.2017

Daniel's Tutorial

It was an honor and privilege to host our first SPM User Meeting in Mainz this year in the group of Prof. Angelika Kuehnle. This two-day gathering was a time for intense knowledge sharing among Zurich Instruments' users with invited talks, tutorials in smaller groups and a poster session. Invited...

Teraohm Impedance Measurements with the MFIA Impedance Analyzer

29.05.2017

TeraOhm Measurement

Introduction This blog post describes impedance measurements of a 1 TΩ commercially-available resistor using the MFIA Impedance Analyzer. This further demonstrates how the MFIA can accurately measure challenging components with very high impedance. Thanks to a clear reactance chart, MFIA users know what accuracy they can expect starting from the...

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