
© 2019 Thorlabs8
PDB570C
·When adjusting optical gain, make sure not to saturate the amplifier. The RF OUTPUT
voltage swing must not exceed ±2.1 V (50 Wload) resp. ±4.2 V (high Z load)!
·The other input, that is not in use, will be muted. However, due to the operating principle
of the optical gain control, the not selected input will not be completely switched off, it re-
mains active with a very weak sensitivity.
Attention
Make sure not to exceed the maximum input power of 200 µW! Higher power level may destroy
the photo detector!
3.3.2 Balanced Mode
Set the mode switch to BAL. This mode is equivalent to a standard balanced detector, with the
difference that the optical gain can be adjusted for both inputs simultaneously by a factor 4 (M
= 2.5 to 10). The balance needs to be achieved by adjusting the input power levels and ob-
serving the difference signal at the RF OUTPUT.
Note
In balanced mode, CONTROL VELOCITY and CONTROL OUTPUT are disabled.
Attention
Make sure not to exceed the maximum input power of 200 µW! Higher power level may destroy
the photo detector!
3.3.3 Auto-Balanced Mode
Set the mode switch to AUTO-BAL.
In auto balanced mode, CONTROL VELOCITY and CONTROL OUTPUT are active. The
OPTICAL GAIN control affects only INPUT-, while INPUT+ is controlled by the control loop sig-
nal for power balance. An outstanding feature of the PDB570C is the gain control to lower as
well as to higher values. That means, that it's not significant which of the two input signals has
the higher level. However, the gain control is limited to the optical gain adjustment range and is
affected by the actual Optical Gain setting. If the input signal power imbalance is greater than
the optical gain adjustment range, AUTO-BAL cannot operate properly.
A good starting point to achieve an optimal auto-balancing performance is if the input power
levels are close each to the other and the Optical Gain of INPUT- is set to a medium value.
In order to achieve optimal measurement results, set OPTICAL GAIN to medium value (or in
accordance with power ratio between the inputs). Set the CONTROL VELOCITY to minimum
for a maximum control loop stability. Depending on the input conditions higher CONTROL
VELOCITY settings may lead to better noise suppression and should be figured out experi-
mentally.
Note
If the input power difference is too large and/or the loop velocity is set too high, oscillations of
the control loop may appear.
Attention
Make sure not to exceed the maximum input power of 200 µW! Higher power level may destroy
the photo detector!