Lock-in amplifiers are used to detect and measure very small AC signals, all the way down to a few nanovolts. Accurate measurements may be made even when the small signal is obscured by noise sources many thousands of times larger. Lock-in amplifiers use a technique known as phase-sensitive detection to single out the component of the signal at a specific reference frequency and phase. Noise signals at frequencies other than the reference frequency are rejected and do not affect the measurement.
This application note takes you though the basic operational principles of a lock-in amplifier, the differences between analogue and digital systems, specifications of key importance as well as notes on how to get the best out of your experiment.
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