Group Seminar: What is the power spectral density (PSD) of a quantity and how do I measure it?

Dimitris Tsevas, MPQ
Group Seminar at MPQ lecture hall & Zoom
Tuesday, February 21st, 9:00am (MEZ)

Abstract:

This is a technical talk and I strongly encourage all kinds of questions - especially if a technical detail has not been understood yet. We will talk about (1) the definition of a quantity's power spectral density (PSD) and the PSD's physical units, (2) a basic example of where the PSD can appear in quantum optics, (3) the relation of the PSD to the RMS value of the quantity, (4) the single-sided PSD of a real quantity, (5) what physical units typically appear on devices that can measure the PSD, (6) how to compensate for the voltage divider that forms between the impedances of devices in the lab, (7) how to calibrate the output of a device that measures the PSD using a known signal, (8) how the FFT machine in the Bloch group works and how to measure with it, (9) how swept spectrum analyzers work and how to measure with them, (10) how to use our new python scripts from the Bloch group gitlab to measure spectra as automatically as possible from a computer, (11) how a laser's relative intensity noise (RIN) is defined based on the relative intensity's PSD, (12) how the laser's intensity gets converted into a voltage by a biased photodiode (very briefly).