Connecting to MFLI by Zurich Instruments in Python

Instrument Card

The Zurich Instruments MFLI is a digital lock-in amplifier that covers the frequency range from DC to 500 kHz (and up to 5 MHz when upgraded). Thanks to its embedded data and web servers, the MFLI can be used directly with any device running a web browser without further software installations

Device Specification: here

Manufacturer card: ZURICH INSTRUMENTS

Zurich Instruments Ltd. is a privately owned company developing and selling advanced test and measurement instruments equipped with software for dynamic signal analysis.

• Headquarters: Switzerland
• Yearly Revenue (millions, USD): 38
• Vendor Website: here

Connect to the MFLI in Python

Read our guide for turning Python scripts into Flojoy nodes.

Flojoy

PROTOCOLS > SCPI

📄 IDN

Query a device's identity through the universal *IDN? SCPI command.

📄 MEASURE VOLTAGE

Query an instrument's measured output voltage, such as a DMM or power supply.

📄 SCPI WRITE

Write a SCPI command to a connected bench-top instrument and return the result.

QCodes

The provided code is a stub for connecting to a Zurich Instruments MFLI Lock-in Amplifier using Qcodes. To establish a connection and interact with the lock-in amplifier, you can use the following code:

from qcodes import Station
from qcodes.instrument_drivers.zhinst import MFLI

# Create a station to hold the instruments
station = Station()

# Connect to the MFLI Lock-in Amplifier
mflilockin = MFLI("MFLI", "dev1234", interface="1GbE")

# Add the lock-in amplifier to the station
station.add_component(mflilockin)

# Print the available parameters of the lock-in amplifier
print(mflilockin.parameters)

# Perform further operations with the lock-in amplifier as needed
# ...

# Close the connection to the lock-in amplifier
mflilockin.close()

Make sure to replace "dev1234" with the actual device ID or name of your MFLI Lock-in Amplifier. The interface parameter specifies the connection interface, which is set to "1GbE" in this example.

The code creates a Station object to hold the instruments. Then, it establishes a connection to the MFLI Lock-in Amplifier using the MFLI class from the zhinst module of Qcodes. The lock-in amplifier is added to the station using the add_component method.

You can access and manipulate the lock-in amplifier’s parameters using the parameters attribute of the MFLI instance. In the provided code, it prints the available parameters of the lock-in amplifier.

Finally, the connection to the lock-in amplifier is closed using the close method of the MFLI instance.

Note: This code assumes that you have already installed the qcodes and zhinst-qcodes packages.