A Scalable, Self-Analyzing Digital Locking System for use on Quantum Optics Experiments

TL;DR

This paper introduces a scalable, self-analyzing digital locking system tailored for quantum optics experiments, enhancing stability, automation, and analysis capabilities compared to traditional analog methods.

Contribution

It presents a new digital control system with built-in analysis tools, freely available, that improves locking stability and optimization in quantum optics experiments.

Findings

Demonstrated long-term stability of the digital locking system.

Showcased the system's ability to optimize locks using inbuilt analysis tools.

Applied the system to characterize optical Schrödinger cat states.

Abstract

Digital control of optics experiments has many advantages over analog control systems, specifically in terms of scalability, cost, flexibility, and the integration of system information into one location. We present a digital control system, freely available for download online, specifically designed for quantum optics experiments that allows for automatic and sequential re-locking of optical components. We show how the inbuilt locking analysis tools, including a white-noise network analyzer, can be used to help optimize individual locks, and verify the long term stability of the digital system. Finally, we present an example of the benefits of digital locking for quantum optics by applying the code to a specific experiment used to characterize optical Schrodinger cat states.