Case study 05

Ultracold Atom Detector

Electronics for optical-trap amplitude stabilization.

Photodetector calibration, low-noise amplification, and measured noise accounting for an optical-trap amplitude channel.

Evidence at a glance

Lab work
Calibrated photodetectors and built a high-gain, low-noise amplifier.
Noise families
Power-supply, detector, and Johnson–Nyquist noise.
Caveat
Qualitative signal schematic; no lab photographs are included.

Account for noise before closing the loop.

The lab work joined photodetector calibration, a high-gain low-noise amplifier, and measured noise accounting for an optical-trap amplitude channel.

Bench work

Photodetectors were calibrated and the amplifier was built for the Center for Ultracold Atoms, Fermi 2.

Evidence boundary

The schematic identifies the measured supply, detector, and Johnson-Nyquist noise families without inventing amplitudes, spectra, or lab photography.

Follow the amplitude channel

The accessible signal diagram shows where the three qualitative noise families enter the amplifier and optical-trap lock.

Noise budget for the optical-trap amplitude channelThree measured noise families — supply, detector, and Johnson-Nyquist — feeding a high-gain amplifier before the trap lock.AMPLITUDE CHANNEL / QUALITATIVE SIGNAL MAPSupplyripple / railsDetectorphotodiode floorJohnson-Nyquistthermal contributionHigh-gain ampmeasured noise inputsOptical trapamplitude lockafter noise accounting
Schematic of the three noise families I measured. No lab photographs in this repo.