Mixed-signal data acquisition system for optically detected magnetic resonance of solid-state spins

Abstract: We report a mixed-signal data acquisition (DAQ) system for optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) of solid-state spins. This system is designed and implemented based on a Field-Programmable-Gate-Array (FPGA) chip assisted with high-speed peripherals. The ODMR experiments often require high-speed mixed-signal data acquisition and processing for general and specific tasks. To this end, we realized a mixed-signal DAQ system which can acquire both analog and digital signals with precise hardware synchronization. The system consist of 4 analog channels (2 inputs and 2 outputs) and 16 optional digital channels works at up to 125 MHz clock rate. With this system, we performed general-purpose ODMR and advanced Lock-in detection experiments of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers, and the reported DAQ system shows excellent performance in both single and ensemble spin cases. This work provides a uniform DAQ solution for NV center quantum control system and could be easily extended to other spin-based systems.