A Distributed GUI-based Computer Control System for Atomic Physics Experiments

Abstract

Atomic physics experiments often require a complex sequence of precisely timed computer controlled events. A distributed GUI-based control system designed with such experiments in mind, The Cicero Word Generator, is described. The system makes use of a client-server separation between a user interface for sequence design and a set of output hardware servers. Output hardware servers are designed to use standard National Instruments output cards, but the client-server nature allows this to be extended to other output hardware. Output sequences running on multiple servers and output cards can be synchronized using a shared clock. By using an FPGA-generated variable frequency clock, redundant buffers can be dramatically shortened, and a time resolution of 100ns achieved over effectively arbitrary sequence lengths.

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Cited by in corpus (10)

• A scripted control system for autonomous hardware timed experiments
• Quantum Simulation of Ultrafast Dynamics Using Trapped Ultracold Atoms
• A scalable hardware and software control apparatus for experiments with hybrid quantum systems
• Embedded Control System for Mobile Atom Interferometers
• A control hardware based on a field programmable gate array for experiments in atomic physics
• Programmable System on Chip for controlling an atomic physics experiment
• A flexible control system for atomic, molecular and optical physics experiments
• CIRCUS: an autonomous control system for antimatter, atomic and quantum physics experiments
• TALOS (Total Automation of LabVIEW Operations for Science): A framework for autonomous control systems for complex experiments
• Experimental timing and control using microcontrollers