M5401LUNA/01A Labber

Overview

The M5401LUNA/01A Labber software offers a complete, easy-to-use solution for instrument control and lab automation, with particular focus on quantum applications. The software is suitable for a R&D, test, or measurement team that wishes to bring its experimental potential to its maximum, while minimizing the time spent on developing lab software infrastructure.

Labber consists of three core components:

• An Instrument Server for instrument communication, supporting many vendors and interfaces, e.g. TCP/IP, GPIB, serial, USB etc.

• A Measurement Editor for efficient measurement configuration and execution.

• A Log Browser for organized storage of experimental data and configurations.

The M5401LUNA/01A Software Package

This licensed software package for Labber includes a GUI for each component, as well as a Python API that together enable a versatile range of quantum measurements. The M5401L01A license offers control of up to 10 hardware instruments, whereas the M5401LUNA license offers control of an unlimited number of hardware instruments for those at the state-of-the-art in scaling. 

Labber offers a complete, easy-to-use solution for instrument control and lab automation. Researchers and engineers require a flexible and fast software solution enabling the latest breakthrough and should not have to divert time away from research, writing many lines of code. Instead, they can leverage Labber to accelerate their next breakthrough.

Highlights

• Easy to use python interface via a GUI or native API for measurement scripting and data analysis

• Log Browser automatically loads and plots data for inspection

• Over 100 existing Keysight and 3rd party hardware (AWG/Digitizer/Signal Generators/Spectrum Analyzers/VNAs) and software drivers

• Examples in manual on how to create hardware or software drivers

• Communication via VISA supporting TCP/IP, GPIB, serial, and USB Connections

• Trusted by universities, research laboratories, and companies worldwide to run their experiments.

Features

• An HDF5 file format for saving experiment and instrumentation configuration with run data,  enabling drag and drop replication in GUI (Measurement Editor or Log Browser), which is interchangeable with creation or file load via python API.

o As a convenience feature, users can click and drag an HDF5 file from a folder or email and drop onto the Measurement Editor GUI to reload the experiment with instrument configuration to inspect or replicate configurations from collaborators. This feature is also useful to inspect or debug the output of the python API measurement scripts in the Measurement Editor GUI.  Users can similarly drag and drop the HDF5 files to the Log Browser GUI to automatically plot the experiment data.    

• Multi-dimensional sweeps with user defined setting relations. Quantities (frequency, amplitude, number of Cliffords) in a step sequence can be:

o Single value defined by the user or a relational value from other step channels. For instance, fs = fmqpg – np.sqrt(2)*25 MHz. The user can also call built in python or numpy (np.sqrt in the example) in the calculation

• For the Keysight M3XXXA AWG and Digitizer series:

Labber maintains its functionality of allowing single waveforms to be loaded sequentially for any of the supported Keysight or 3rd party AWGs. Additionally, using the hardware-loop mode Labber allows the user to upload a sequence of waveforms to accelerate measurement times. Labber provides further enhancement when integrated with the Keysight Quantum Solution line. The familiar Labber use model of specifying pulse shapes remains; however, all quantities are efficiently parsed into FPGA commands to accelerate measurement times via efficient pulse primitive play as well as on-board FPGA demodulation for the Digitizer.  Optimized on the M3202A AWG and M3102A Digitizers are:

o Multi-module and multi-chassis synchronization - Leveraging the KS2201A PathWave Test Sync Executive  (external license required) allows for nanosecond timing and synchronization for up to four fully loaded M9019A (18-slot PXI) chasses

• Sequences with parameterized pulses for fast sweeps or updates

o Leveraging the M5400PLSA Quantum Library Dynamic Pulse Generation (external license required) enables pulse primitives uploaded to FPGA with amplitude, frequency, phase, and time delays between pulses to be set in register values for efficient, gapless operation.