Low latency, galvanically isolated data transfer architecture for distributed low-level precision measurements

Many recent achievements in the field of quantum devices, spintronics, novel materials and surface science, to name a few, have been possible thanks to the ability to cool samples to temperatures significantly below 1 Kelvin and to the use of state of the art measurement electronics. The requirements for signal resolution, precision and quality increase significantly at lower temperatures, while the growing complexity of devices and experiments, the need for higher measurement throughput, as well as advances in cryogenic electronics require a growing number of signals, larger measurement bandwidths, and push the cost of measurement electronics upwards.

Here we present a signal transfer architecture that enables a low-latency, synchronous transfer of raw DAC and ADC data from multiple signal generation and acquisition interfaces to a central processing core. The architecture allows transfer of very high-resolution data with microsecond resolution, high resolution data with nanosecond resolution or a combination thereof. The use of off-the-shelf optical fiber cables for data transfer allows for decentralized measurements, simultaneous experiments on different experimental set-ups, as well as galvanic isolation between the processing core and the signal interfaces. The architecture can handle hundreds of signals, all synchronous and with no multiplexing. We also discuss state of the art signal interfaces and typical applications for this novel architecture.