An FPGA-Based Hardware Platform for the Control of Spin-Based Quantum Systems

Abstract

This paper reports the development of a highly efficient, flexible hardware platform, which is suitable for the control of spin-based quantum systems including quantum computation and quantum metrology. A two-channel arbitrary waveform generator (AWG), an eight-channel pulse/sequence generator, a two-channel analog-to-digital converter (ADC), and a two-channel high-speed time-to-digital converter (TDC) are fully integrated on a printed circuit board (PCB). The AWG has a 1-GSa/s sampling rate and a 16-bit amplitude resolution. The pulse/sequence generator can continuously output pulse/sequence signals with a 50-ps time resolution and a dynamic range from 5 ns to 2 s. The ADC provides a 1-GSa/s sampling rate and a 12-bit amplitude resolution for analog signal acquisition. The TDC provides a 6-ps time resolution and a maximum sampling frequency of 125 MHz. All these modules are realized utilizing a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Customized data calculation modules are also implemented with the FPGA logic. The hardware was tested and implemented in a pulsed electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometer and an optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) spectrometer. Index Terms-Analog-to-digital converter (ADC), arbitrary waveform generator (AWG), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), pulse generator, quantum systems, solid spin, time-todigital converter (TDC). I. INTRODUCTION T HE spin-based quantum techniques play an important role in quantum computation [1]-[3] and quantum metrology [4], [5]. The novel quantum techniques promote further development of instruments, such as electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometers [6]-[8], and nitrogen-vacancy (N-V) center-based optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR)

Digital Instrument for Time Measurements: Small, Portable, High–Performance, Fully Programmable

“…Nowadays, an increasing number of time-based experiments [4], [7], [8], [26]- [28], require TDCs with higher and higher performance, in terms of resolution [17], [18], precision [29], linearity [18], [30], measuring rate [31], Full-Scale Range (FSR) [21], [32]- [34] and number of channels [35], [36].…”

Design and Implementation of a Re-Configurable Versatile Direct Digital Synthesis-Based Pulse Generator

“…If the period is now decremented by 10 pico-second, the frequency control word will be, (2 ) 25961484292674397757…”

MRI-Based Image Signal-to-Noise Ratio Enhancement with Different Receiving Gains in K-Space

“…Signal acquisition research has thus far focused on the maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at individual amplitude points to prevent saturation under a fixed receiving gain (RG). Several researchers have attempted to improve the SNR by reducing the receiver noise [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. When compared with analog receivers, digital receivers can reduce the noise of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), thereby improving the SNR [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ].…”

“…Several researchers have attempted to improve the SNR by reducing the receiver noise [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. When compared with analog receivers, digital receivers can reduce the noise of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), thereby improving the SNR [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. For conventional MRI digital receivers (3T), analog-to-digital convertors (ADCs) with a conversion rate of 100 MHz are typically used for under-sampling and analog-to-digital signal conversion [ 5 ].…”

“…Because the amplitude of the free induction decay (FID) signal of NMR fluctuates greatly in terms of duration, the method for reducing the receiver noise under a fixed RG proposed in the literature [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ] leverages the entire resolution of an ADC for the part with a larger amplitude in the signal; however, it does not consider the dynamic range of the signal across the entire period during the quantization process. Although measures have been taken to reduce the sampling noise, the parts of the signal with smaller amplitudes still cannot leverage the full resolution of an ADC [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 11 ], meaning that the maximum possible SNR cannot be achieved. In 2011, Takeda et al proposed a solution, namely, Apodization after Receiver Gain Increment during Ongoing Sequence with Time (APRICOT).…”