, where < > is the a era!e INTRODUCTION s&uare olta!

e across a resistor of resistance 3 at Since its introduction in the late 1940s, the lock-temperature = k b T measured within a bandwidth in amplifier has become an indispensable tool for the f . Substitutin! in typical alues for the experimental physicist. The lock-in amplifier allows forparameters in /y&uist:s e&uation #3 ; 1k , T ; the reco ery of weak si!nals buried in electronic noise. 6008, f ; 14h2% yields 4 7 . These "n essence, the lock-in amplifier can beha e as a ery fluctuations on the order of micro- olts could be narrow #hi!h $ factor% bandpass filter. This has si!nificant when measurin! weak si!nals of similar tremendous practical application, as traditional hi!h $ ma!nitude. )nother important source of random electric band pass filters ha e limitations #ie, the center noise is the so called *1/f or *flicker+ noise. )lthou!h fre&uency of the filter f 0 tends to drift o er time% that the physics responsible for this noise is not entirely limit their utility in practice . "n fact, the manual for the understood, the TeachSpin S'(")1-) lock in amplifier asserts *there important takeaway is that flicker noise is most are serious technical problems with buildin! stable hi!h pre alent in <9 and slowly oscillatin! circuits. )n $ bandpass filters.+1 "n contrast, the lock-in amplifier excellent sur ey of other sources of stochastic electronic can easily achie e $ factors on the order of many noise #e.!, shot noise, &uantum noise, and many thousands. The physics behind lock in amplification are others...% can be found in chapter 6 of =. 7asilescu:s easily understood by in esti!atin! the function of its *-lectronic /oise and "nterferin! Si!nals+. primary components, the reference oscillator, phase shifter, multiplier, and low pass filter. II. The Lock-in Ampli ier. The lock-in amplifier is an important tool used to separate a si!nal from surroundin! noise. >ow this is THEORY achie ed can be understood by analy2in! the simplified I. Electronic Noise circuit representation of a typical lock-in amplifier, -lectronic noise is defined by the "--- as *unwanted disturbances superposed upon a useful si!nalpresented in fi!ure 1. !i". # $repro%&ce% rom '.L 'e(%e) Lock-in Ampli iers* that tends to obscure its information and content.+ /oise can be random or systemic in nature. Systemic principles (n% (pplic(tions i"&re +.,- * noise is a conse&uence of the particulars of an experimental setup or its en ironment. 0or example, the drift of a hi!h-$ bandpass filter away from its center fre&uency is an example of systemic noise, as the details of the drift are not random, but biased based on the particulars of that specific circuit component. 1ther examples of systemic noise could be a poorly manufactured amplifier whose !ain drifts as the temperature increases, or interference from a radio station which is broadcastin! at a similar fre&uency at which an experiment is bein! dri en at. Systemic noise can be controlled and minimi2ed by prudent experiment The lock in amplifier works as follows. )n desi!n. experimental system is dri en by a periodic sinusoidal 3andom noise, on the other hand, is a excitation. The typical example is a li!ht source bein! conse&uence of the stochastic nature of the underlyin! modulated by a *chopper+ at a certain fre&uency. The physical processes which are inherent to current flow, experiment mi!ht consist of measurin! the response of -4 wa e propa!ation, and other processes. )n example some system when the li!ht is incident on the system. of random electronic noise is 5ohnson-/y&uist noise, The response of the system is con erted to an electrical which ori!inates from the thermal a!itation of electrons si!nal ia electronic transducer. Since the li!ht is dri en inside a conductor. /y&uist deri ed the relationship6 by a periodic sinusoidal function, one mi!ht expect the response of the experimental system to be periodic and sinusoidal as well. <enote this si!nal by 1 S'(")-1) "nstructor 4anual, p! .1. s( t )=7scos(st +s ) . /ow suppose there is random . 7asilescu. *-lectronic /oise and "nterferin! Si!nals+ Section 1.1. noise added to the si!nal, n(t), so that the total si!nal is 6 See 8ittel, *Thermal 'hysics+ , 9hapter 4 for a short s tot = s ( t )+ n (t ) The transducer sends this noisy
<
.

>=43 f

deri ation of /y&uist:s e&uation.

si!nal to a multiplier, where it is multiplied by the *reference si!nal+, which for the time bein! will be assumed to be sinusoidal function of the form r( t )=7 r cos( r t+ r ) . ?sin! tri!onometric identities, we see that multiplyin! the si!nal by the reference results in a wa e of the form,
1 s tot ( t )r ( t )= 7 s 7 r cos [( s+ r ) t +(r +s )] . 1 + 7s 7 r cos [(s r ) t +(r s )] . +n ( t ) r ( t )

The multiplied si!nal is next passed throu!h a low pass filter with a cutoff fre&uency much less than s . This blocks the first cosine term in #ii%, oscillatin! at . . 1nly the

enou!h fre&uency components of the n(t)r(t) term sur i e the low-pass filter. >owe er, as fi!ure 4 (i) showed, the n(t)r(t) term ret(ins its r(n%omness) (n% th&s inte"r(tes to /ero o0er ( lon" eno&"h time inter0(l. 3ecallin! that the low pass filter acts as an inte!ratin! circuit, and assumin! both amplitudes and ) useful result occurs when the reference is the phase between the reference and the si!nal do not chosen such that the product of the multiplication of the drift o er time, the lo1 p(ss ilter 1ill o&tp&t ( DC reference with the pure si!nal produces a *rectified+ c&rrent proportion(l to the (mplit&%es o the si"n(l # always positi e% ersion of the si!nal. This can be (n% the re erence. "n particular, when the phase accomplished by usin! a reference si!nal of the same difference is 2ero, and the rms reference olta!e set to 1 form and fre&uency as the si!nal. "t can also be olt for con enience, the <9 output will be @ the rms accomplished usin! a s&uare wa e at the same si!nal olta!e. fre&uency as the si!nal which multiplies the positi e 0ourier analysis re eals subtleties which must alues of the si!nal by 1, and the ne!ati e portions of be accounted for when usin! a s&uare wa e as the the si!nal by -1. See fi!ures . and 6. reference. The 0ourier series for a s&uare wa e of 4 1 nt period .L is !i en as r ( t )= sin ( ) , L n =1,6,A. .. n plotted below to ninth order in fi!ure A #with L;1%.

1 7 7 [ cos ( )] term, as well as low . s r

The s&uare wa e reference si!nal is analy2ed later. 0or now, take the reference to be of the form assumed earlier but with fre&uency r =s . Substitutin! this into e&uation #i% yields 1 s ( t )r ( t )= 7 s 7 r [ cos [( . s ) t +(s+r )]+ cos ( )] #ii% , where .

= s r . /ote that any random noise present in the si!nal will still be random upon multiplication by the reference si!nal. This is illustrated in fi!ure 4.

"f this wa eform is used as the reference r(t), the result of multiplyin! s tot = s ( t )+ n ( t ) by r(t) will be a product of the form
1 4 s tot ( t ) r ( t )= 7 s 7 r cos [(s+n ) t +(r +s )] . n =1,6,A. . n #ii 1 4 + 7s 7 r cos [(s n ) t +( r s)] . n n = 1,6,A.. +n ( t ) r ( t )

!i" .. ?pon multiplication with the reference si!nal, the noise e&ual probability of bein! positi e or ne!ati e in amplitude.

. )s in the sine wa e case, the additi e cosine terms oscillatin! at s + n will not sur i e the low pass filter. >owe er, noise of fre&uency e&ual to an odd multiple of n will be able to *sneak by+ the low pass filter, as these fre&uencies will make the coefficient of t e&ual to 2ero in the subtracti e cosine terms. Thus one would expect en elopes of noise oscillatin! at each still has an n with decreasin! relati e amplitudes #1B6, 1BA, 1BC

D% to *sneak past+ the low pass filter when usin! a s&uare reference wa e.

E23ERI'ENT
) TeachSpin S'(")1-) lock-in amplifier was used to conduct arious experiments. The apparatus was modular in nature, consistin! of a si!nal and reference !enerator #sine or s&uare wa e%, an adEustable si!nal dampener, noise !enerator and dampener, a preamplifer with arious !ain settin!s, a filter component with arious filter settin!s #0or example, one could set the filter to low-pass, hi!h-pass, or band-pass with $;.ACC, .C0C, 1, . ,A, .0,or A0.% ) phase shifter module allowed for the coarse and fine adEustment of the phase difference between the reference and the si!nal. The detector module had two confi!urations, lock-in mode and amplitude detectin! mode. Fhen in lock-in mode, the module multiplied the reference with the si!nal. !i". ,* ?pper picture shows a si!nal,noise ratio of 1,1, while the bottom Fhen in amplitude-detection mode, the module picture shows a 1,10 si!nal,noise ratio. multiplied all ne!ati e portions of the si!nal by -1, ensurin! a rectified si!nal, and the reference was not The noisy si!nal was then sent to a bandpass filter considered. 0inally, there was a low-pass filter module. centered at G1 >2, at arious $ settin!s ran!in! from .This module inte!rated the si!nal sent from the detector A0, and passed throu!h the rectifier and inte!rator with module o er adEustable time constants and displayed the the time constant held fixed at =1 . The output <.9 output <.9 olta!e on a built in oltmeter. olta!e of the noisy si!nal, as well as the output <.9 The modular nature of the S'(")-1) allowed olta!e when the si!nal was effecti ely off #dampened the experimenter to bypass indi idual modules and further by another factor of 100, so 1000x total in esti!ate the output of each module on an dampenin! % were recorded, and the si!nal to noise ratio oscilloscope. was calculated for each $ settin!. The usefulness of usin! only a band-pass filter The primary experiment tested the ability of the to filter out noise was in esti!ated first. 0irst a 1,1 lock-in detector to reco er a noisy si!nal completely si!nal to noise ratio was constructed as follows. ) noise buried in noise. ) 1,1 si!nal to noise stren!th was set up less, 4..47 peak to peak , G1 >2 sine wa e si!nal was in the same manner the 1,1 SB/ ratio was achie ed sent throu!h the rectifier #*amplitude detector+% and earlier when the bandpass filter was tested at arious $. then passed throu!h the 39 inte!rator module with a 0or arious si!nal attenuation factors #1B10, 1B100, I time constant =1 second. The <.9 output after 1B1000% , the pure si!nal was sent to the lock-in where it passin! throu!h this circuit was recorded to be ..H.7 on was multiplied by a reference si!nal of the same a di!ital oltmeter. /ext, noise from the noise !enerator fre&uency and shape #A0 >2 sine wa e%. 0i!ure C below was sent throu!h the same circuit, in the absence of a shows a fre&uency domain iew of the si!nal at full si!nal, and the noise amplitude was adEusted by dial stren!th and at 1B100th attenuation. until the <.9 output of the *pure noise+ was also ..H.7. !i" 4* )t this point the si!nal was dampened to 1B10th of its ori!inal amplitude, and the noise was added to the si!nal. 0i!ure H below shows the effect of dampenin! the si!nal and introducin! noise.

1B100th si!nal attenuation case, ..00K for another 1B1000 th case.% upon the introduction of noise. "n contrast, introducin! noise under the lock-in confi!uration often did not chan!e the <.9 output olta!e, confirmin! the lock-in superiority.

#9onfi!uration% Si!nal J 'eak-'eak )ttenuation 7olta!e L 0actor 1scillator

!i" 4. !re5&enc6 %om(in 0ie1 o 78 H/ sine 1(0e si"n(l 9e ore (n% ( ter (tten&(tion 96 ( (ctor o #88. A ter (tten&(tion) the si"n(l is completel6 in%istin"&ish(9le rom 9(ck"ro&n% noise.

#noisy si!nal <.9 olta!e% B #pure si!nal <.9 olta!e% ratio 1.00 J- .006 1.09 J- .06 1.00J-.00. 1.1A J- .0. .99 J-.001 1.0H J-.0. .96 J- ..0 4.H6J-A.1A 1.1J-..00 .C4 J- .19 1.00 J- 1.00 ...AJ-4.. 1.00 J- .00A

)n oscilloscope was used to precisely adEust the phase difference between the reference and the si!nal to 2ero. #band-pass% #The phase between the reference and si!nal was 2ero 1H0m7 when the wa e was fully rectified.% The si!nal was sent #lock-in%, throu!h the low pass filter, and the <.9 olta!e of the .64 m7 pure si!nal was recorded. /ow the noise was switched on, and the <.9 output olta!e of the noisy si!nal was #band-pass% also recorded. "f the lock-in was effecti e, the noisy <.9 .64 m7 output olta!e would be expected to be close to the pure #lock-in% si!nal <.9 output olta!e. )ll trials used a time constant =.6 seconds for the inte!rator, for reasons discussed 610 m7 later. -ach trial was also repeated in *amplitude #band-pass% detection+ mode usin! usin! a bandpass filter centered 610 m7 at A0 >2 with a $ factor of .0. The effecti eness of the #lock-in% combined bandpass filter J rectifier was compared to 6G m7 that of the lock in. DATA:RE;ULT; The si!nal to noise ratios calculated from data obtained from the bandpass filter J rectifier only trials #lock-in% are tabulated below in table 1. .4 m7 T(9le #* "mpro ement of 1B10th S,/ G1 >2 sine-wa e si!nal after
passin! throu!h bandpass filter centered at G0>2 as a function of the &uality factor.

#lock-in% 1H0m7

1B10th 1B10th 1B10th 1B10th 1B10th 1B10th 1B100th 1B100th 1B100th 1B100th

#band-pass% 6G m7

#band-pass% .4 m7

$-0actor . A 10 .0 A0

9alculated Si!nal,/oise #lock-in%1H m7 1B100th 3atio #band-pass% 1B100th 4J-..A 1H m7 A.A J-.09 #lock-in% 1.4 1B1000th m7 C.6J-.0A C.HJ-.06 G.6J-.0A

ANALY;I; Table 1 shows when only a band-pass filter was used to minimi2e noise, hi!her $ factors led to ratio. The performance of the lock-in amplifier s the $;.0 increased impro ement in the si!nal to noise th >owe er, this was only rele ant to the 1B10 attenuation bandpass filter J rectifier confi!uration are tabulated below in table . for arious si!nal attenuation factors. re!imeM at hi!her le els of si!nal attenuation the bandpass confi!uration was simply unable to reco er a weak T(9le +* ) noisy si!nal B pure si!nal ratio of 1.00 indicates si!nal. The multimeter would oscillate further around a central alue at the hi!hest alues of $, while the an effecti e noise filter. The bandpass confi!uration:s <.9 olta!e readin!s from lower $ trials were steadier. This olta!e often Eumped by substantial amounts #400K for one

may be attributed to the instability of hi!h $ filters alluded to in the S'(")1-) manual. The central fre&uency of hi!h $ filters tends to drift. Table . confirms the superiority of the lock-in to the band-pass filter J rectifier combination, showin! the lock-in effecti e at si!nal to noise ratios e en on the order of 1B1000th. The time constant = RC was kept constant at .6 seconds. This was chosen under the false impression that the bandwidth of the lock-in was

1 f = . ) time constant of .6 seconds would !i e a bandwidth f = 6.66 >2. )t a center fre&uency of

A0 >2, the effecti e $ of the lock-in would be

Q=

&uality factor of the bandpass filter. " had hoped to show that a lock-in amplifier could outperform a band-pass filter with a hi!her $ factor. "n reality, the bandwidth of

f0 A0 Hz = 1A , comparable to the $ ; .0 f 6.66 Hz

1 , so the .6 second time 4 constant !a e an effecti e Q H0 at f 0= A0 Hz . 1 1 The formula f = explains how = 4 439
the lock-in is

f=

hi!h $ factors are achie able with the lock-in amplifier. <ri in! an experiment at a modestly fast fre&uency, say 1 k>2, and usin! a time constant of 10 seconds #achie able on the S'(")1-)% would !i e

Q=

by dri in! the experiment at a hi!h fre&uency, the experiment is less prone to 1Bf noise.

f 0 1000 Hz 10000 = = = 40000 . )s a bonus, f 1/ 4 1 / 40

CONCLU;ION The ability of the lock-in amplifier to reco er si!nals completely buried in noise has been demonstrated. )mplitude detection failed at si!nal attenuation le els of 1B100 and beyond, while lock-in detection was functional e en at 1B1000th attenuation le els. - en in the 1B10th si!nal attenuation re!ime where amplitude detection worked, hi!her $ alues did not lead to substantially impro ed si!nal to noise ratios.