An atomic clock synchronized versatile all-in-one digital ‘LockBox’

Abstract A reliable and robust active stabilization of different control parameters is key to the success of many experiments. The essential hardware for that; lock-in detection, RF generator, and proportional-integral-derivative feedback control should have sufficient bandwidth, low noise operation...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: S. Johnson, S. Das Gupta, T. R. Saravanan, S. Banerjee, S. Majhi, S. De
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-04-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-90971-8
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Summary:Abstract A reliable and robust active stabilization of different control parameters is key to the success of many experiments. The essential hardware for that; lock-in detection, RF generator, and proportional-integral-derivative feedback control should have sufficient bandwidth, low noise operation and versatility to use the system in different applications. Here we report a fully digital, all essential requirements in one system (LockBox), featured with complete control cum monitoring of the signals from a touchscreen display and the possibility of operating from a remote PC. The lock-in in it has DC to 840 kHz bandwidth, the sinusoidal generator for RF modulation is up to 62.5 MHz, the system noise is 13.2 $$\textrm{nV}_{\textrm{rms}}/\sqrt{\textrm{Hz}}$$ at 100 kHz, and referenced to a Rubidium-clock. We have demonstrated its use for stabilization of laser frequency using an emulated Pound-Drever-Hall and a fiber spool as two independent references, and also for arm length locking of a Michelson interferometer.
ISSN:2045-2322