Picosecond Delayer
MPD Picosecond Delayer is a module capable to generate output pulses with user-selectable delay and output pulse duration, in respect to the rising or falling edge of the input signal. This new instrumentation, completely based on solid-state components, sets a new milestone with best in class precision, time-jitter and stability over a wide range of temperatures, not even matched by standard coaxial cables.
Fine adjustable picosecond delayer 10ps resolution and programmable output width
Very high bandwidth and low jitter Up to 380 MHz with random jitter of 5ps RMS
Dual output TTL and NIM
High performance uniformity INL between +50ps & -100ps
Frequency divider Input frequency can be divided by a factor up to 999
MODULE FEATURES
• 50 ns maximum delay range
• 10 ps step
• TTL and NIM output pulses
• up to 380 MHz bandwidth (NIM output)
• programmable output width from 1 ns to 250 ns• INL between +50 ps and -100 ps over full-scale range and for all temperatures
• random jitter typ. 5 ps RMS
• < 1 ms programming time
• USB interface
• All solid state, no coax cables
BIOMEDICAL APPLICATION
• Correlation Measurements
• Spectroscopy
• Time-correlated single photon
counting
• Optical TomographyINDUSTRIAL APPLICATION
• Streak camera synchronization
• Short gate acquisition experimentsQUANTUM APPLICATION
• Quantum Cryptography
• Single-photon source
characterisation
ASTRONOMY APPLICATION
• Optical Range Finding,
LIDAR & LADAR
Overview
The MPD Picosecond Delayer is a module capable to generate output pulses (both NIM and TTL) with user-selectable delay and output pulse duration, in respect to the rising or falling edge of an input signal. It can act also as a frequency divider by a user selectable positive integer ranging from 1 to 999.
This new instrumentation, completely based on solid-state components, sets a new milestone with best in class precision, time-jitter and stability over a wide range of temperatures, not even matched by normal coaxial cables.
The delayer features a 50 ns nominal full scale range with a 10 ps step delay resolution, whilst the output pulse duration is also user controllable from 1 ns to 250 ns with a nominal step of 3.3 ns.
The excellent integral non linearity error is comprised between +50 ps and -100 ps over the full scale range and for all operating temperatures. This exceptional performance makes the picosecond delayer the perfect choice for any experimental set-up where signals must be delayed with high accuracy and stability of characteristics over a broad range of delays and temperatures.
The low random jitter makes it also successfully suitable in any Time Correlated Single Photon Counting application.
The picosecond delayer can be either controlled using the embedded keypad and display or remotely through a USB connection by a very simple software interface. It also accepts remote commands through a Serial “Virtual COM”. Commands are simply ASCII strings sent over the virtual COM by any program communicating with a RS-232.
PC Interface
The MPD Picosecond Delayer can be operated through a PC interface that allows the control of the delayer settings with a simple and user friendly window. The window shows always the current status of the delayer. In order to change the delay or the durations of the output pulses, the desired values shall be entered in the correct input boxes and, after pressing the enter key, the delayer gets immediately updated. It is also possible to select the input signal edge and “save” the whole configuration of the delayer that will be loaded at the next switch on.
Specifications
Parameter
Symbol
Description
Min.
Typ.
Max.
Unit
Input high voltage
VIN_High
3
V
Input low voltage
VIN_low
-2
V
Input differential range
VD,MAX
-2
2
V
Input termination
RIN
50
Ω
Input voltage overdrive
VOV
100
mV
Input pulse width
tIN
100
ps
Input Slew Rate
SR
100
V/µs
Input overdrive dispersion
100 mV < VOV < 1 V
10
ps
Input slew rate dispersion
2 V/ns < SR < 10 V/ns
15
ps
Input Edge
Neg/
Pos
Input Threshold
VTH
-2
2
V
Input threshold resolution
ΔVTH
10
18
30
mV
NIM Output low logic level
VNIM_High
50 Ω termination required
0
V
NIM Output high logic level
VNIM_Low
50 Ω termination required
-800
mV
NIM Output Bandwidth
BWNIM
300
380
MHz
TTL Output Bandwidth
BWTTL
100
120
MHz
TTL Output low logic level
VTTL_Low
50 Ω termination required
0
V
TTL Output high logic level
VTTL_High
50 Ω termination required
2.4
V
Propagation delay INPUT - NIM OUT
tPD_NIM
12
15
18
ns
Propagation delay INPUT - TTL OUT
tPD_TTL
16
19
22
ns
Delay programmable range
tRANGE
Equivalent to tDELAY (max)
45
50
55
ns
Delay programmable range
Temperature variation
ΔtRANGE (T)
75
ps/°C
Random timing jitter (RMS)
Rtjitter
tDELAY = 0 ns
2
5
ps
tDELAY = trange
5
12
ps
Delay step
ΔtDELAY
10
ps
Delay integral non linearity
INL
Full scale range
-100
50
ps
Input frequency divider factor
n
1
999
OUTPUT pulse duration
tOUTPUT
1
250
ns
OUTPUT pulse step
ΔtOUT
Pulse width incremental
step
3.3
ns
OUTPUT off time
tNIM_OFF, tTTL_OFF
tNIM_OFF and tTTL_OFF are not guaranteed to be the
equal on a module.
1
3
ns
OUTPUT pulse width jitter
tOUT,jitter
% of pulse duration
1
%
OUTPUT pulse width INL
tOUT,INL
Referred to Applied value,
NIM OUT
max (±5%, 1 ns)
OUTPUT pulse width difference
between TTL and NIM (TTL-NIM)
∆tTTL-NIM
1
ns
Programming time
tPROG
Not valid for input edge
change
1
2
ms
Power supply
12 V – 1 A
Designed and built compliant with the European Union Directive 2011/65/CE (also known as RoHS 2)
System requirements
• USB 1.1 and 2.0 interface
• Picosecond Delayer software
- Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 32 or 64 bit versions
• Virtual COM
- Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 32 or 64 bit versions
- Linux Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, Fedora Core 15 or compatible distributions, 32 or 64 bit versions. Different distributions should work, but were not tested.
- Mac OS X 10.7.5 and above
Mechanical drawings
Ordering Information
The Picosecond Delayer can be ordered directly from Micro Photon Devices or its representatives. The ordering code is the following:
$PSD - 065 - A - MOD