Precision synchronous demodulator

Sep 23, 2013 48 Replies

I'm not sure if it'd work or not, I'm just throwing it out as a possibility to consider.

I do know that -- by repute, at least -- the DC offset issues with ring- diode DBMs is due to the LO getting into the signal. I'm not sure if they are, or can be made, inherently better than Gilbert-cell mixers or not.

Come to think of it, whatever you use, if you can periodically cut off the signal to the mixer you can measure the DC offset in "quiet" mode and null it out automagically, then go back to your regularly scheduled programming.

If I did that I'd have it going on all the time, which means that (a) my intended signal would be getting well chopped up, and I'd have to deal with it, (b) I'd need to capture the DC bias well and often, and (c), I'd have to pay close attention to settling.

But it might work.

Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com

I was going to say, I thought the problem with the diode/balanced mixer might be the dynamic range.

But I was interested in Vlad's suggestion of analog switches and balanced mixers. (Is that how srs etal do it?)

George H.

The SRS lock-in I have access to uses a DSP. I have some schematics of older ones but have not attempted to decipher that part of them.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

Hi Spehro, I was talking about the 200 MHz lockin.

formatting link

Scanning down (pages 181 and 219) it appears they use an AD831 as the mixer.

George H.

Thanks for that link. I suppose they're using two to get quadrature outputs.

As usual with RF parts, very little information on DC performance of the AD831, but based on the huge offset voltage (typical 15mV maximum

+/-40mV), I'd guess it's uglier than sin.

Use my phase-flipping trick!

John Larkin Highland Technology Inc www.highlandtechnology.com jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com Precision electronic instrumentation Picosecond-resolution Digital Delay and Pulse generators Custom timing and laser controllers Photonics and fiberoptic TTL data links VME analog, thermocouple, LVDT, synchro, tachometer Multichannel arbitrary waveform generators

Let us all chime in, in n-part harmony:

Use my trick!

Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com

That was done in the demod that Mullard made for Hanbury Brown's intensity interferometer. See

P. 103 ff.

They managed to get the drift down to below the shot noise level in a

12-hour measurement. (P. 109)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 160 North State Road #203 Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 USA +1 845 480 2058 hobbs at electrooptical dot net http://electrooptical.net

Way back in the day, I used to really like Mini-Circuits' RPD-1 phase detector. Lovely and quiet, low and stable offset voltage (~0.1 mV or so out of a +- 1V range, iirc). They make a superficially similar one in a smaller package, the MPD-1.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 160 North State Road #203 Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 USA +1 845 480 2058 hobbs at electrooptical dot net http://electrooptical.net

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