THORLABS SP USB Series Operation Manual

Usb 2.0 fiber optical spectrometer

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Operation Manual

Thorlabs

SPx-USB

USB 2.0 Fiber Optical Spectrometer

2008

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Page 1 Operation Manual Thorlabs SPx-USB USB 2.0 Fiber Optical Spectrometer 2008...
Page 3: Table Of Contents
........................... 33 14 Zooming and panning ........................... 35 15 Program navigation ........................... 36 16 Color setup ........................... 38 17 Trigger mode ........................... 38 18 Wavelength calibration ........................... 40 19 Persistence ........................... 42 20 Gaussian Transformation ........................... 43 © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 4 ........................... 58 Waste treatment on your own responsibility ................................. 58 Ecological background ................................. 58 3 Listings ........................... 59 List of acronyms ................................. 59 List of tables ................................. 59 List of figures ................................. 59 Addresses ................................. 61 Index © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 5: Foreword
Therefore, please let us know about possible criticism or ideas. We and our international partners are looking forward to hearing from you. Thorlabs GmbH This part of the instruction manual contains information on how to use the SPLICCO measurement system.
Page 6 General Information Splicco Part...
Page 7: Part I General Information
Thorlabs line cameras and spectrometers. After the installation the software is able to communicate with all Thorlabs LC1 line cameras and all SPx spectrometers. Additionally, there are two virtual devices: a line camera and a spectrometer, to demonstrate the functionality of SPLICCO.
Page 8: Requirements
RAM: 256MB Graphic card with at least 32MB memory Hard disc with at least 100MB free storage space free USB2.0 port USB cable according the USB 2.0 specification Software compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/Vista VISA runtime (version 4.1.0 or higher) © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 9: Part Ii Installation
Installation Splicco Part...
Page 10: Parts List
2.4.1 The installation menu Before installing SPLICCO, please make sure that no Thorlabs LC1-USB or SPx- USB devices are connected. After you inserted the SPLICCO installation CD an autorun menu will appear. If autorun is disabled on your system you have to browse the installation CD and run "CD-Drive:\Autorun\Autorun.exe".
Page 11: Installing Visa Runtime Engine
"NI-VISA™ Engine". An installation wizard will be started. If you are running Windows VISTA©® you might be promted to change to the "elevated mode". Please ask your administrator for help when you do not have administrator privileges. Press "Next" to continue. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 12 Figure 2 VISA installation start screen Now you have to specifiy a installation path. Press "Next" to continue. Figure 3 Selection of the installation path Select "I accept the License Agreement(s)" if you do so and press "Next". © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 13 USB feature. Confirm with "Next" to start installation. Figure 5 Selection of VISA features After all files are copied and the installation was successful you might be prompted to reboot your machine. Click "Finish" to finalize the installation. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 14: Installing Splicco
If you are running Windows VISTA©® you might be promted to change to the "elevated mode", as shown in figure 7. Please ask your administrator for help when you do not have administrator privileges. Figure 7 Request for Administrator priviliges © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 15 Figure 8 Selecting the installation paths Please read the end user agreement carefully and choose "I accept the License Agreement(s)" if you do so and press "Next". Figure 9 The end user agreement © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 16 "Back" button to change the installation settings. Figure 10 Installation summary After installation was successful you will see a window containing some information about changelog and other notes. Press "Next" to finish installation. Figure 11 Additional notes © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 17: Driver Installation
Depending on the configuration of your system you maybe asked if you want to connect to "Windows Update to search for software" shown in figure 12. Please select "No, not this time" and click "Next" to continue. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 18 Choosing the installation mode Now select the driver named "spx-usb.inf" in case you connected a SP1- USB/SP2-USB device. For a LC1-USB device select the "lc1-usb.inf" driver. Click "Next" to continue. Attention: Do not use the "oemX.inf" drivers. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 19 Installation Figure 16 Selection of the correct driver Finalize the installation by clicking "Finish". Now the device is installed and can be used by SPLICCO. Figure 17 Finishing the New Found Hardware Wizard © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 20 Operating Instruction Splicco Part...
Page 21: Part Iii Operating Instruction
To start SPLICCO click on the desktop icon. You can also select 'Programs' via the START button in the Windows task bar and then choose 'All Programs / Thorlabs / SPLICCO / Thorlabs SPLICCO'. Connecting a device 1. To start a measurement with a LC1-USB or SPx-USB connect it to a USB port of your PC.
Page 22: Device Window
A change of the integration time affects all windows connected to this device, which are then updated to show the same integration time. Higher integration times results in higher peaks in the measurement data. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 23: Averaging
In order to change the average properties, click "Devices" in the menubar and move the cursor to the device to configurate, then choose "Properties" from the submenu. Figure 21 Device properties Change to the "Common" tabpage and change the average method to the method you want to use. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 24 In case "Block average" was chosen, the status slide will grow to maximum and then the graph will be refreshed with the average of the accumulated scans. After this all old values will be replaced with new values and the slide will be reseted. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 25: Smoothing
In case of "Box Smoothing" you can set the smoothing box width below this control. Zero means no smoothing at all. A change will directly affect the actual graph. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 26 The smoothing controls Smoothing Methods Box Smoothing: The Box Smoothing is the simplest form of smoothing. The only parameter needed is the box width, which indicates how many values are averaged. There is no weighting of those values. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 27: Flip And Revert Picture
SPLICCO provides the possibility to flip or revert the actual measurement data displayed in a window. Open the device properties panel, change to the "Common" tabpage and check the Flip-option and/or the Revert-option. Figure 26 The flip and revert picture controls © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 28: Display Mode
JCAMP-DX file as long as the ranges are compatible to each other. It is possible to calculate with a reference curve that only partly matches the range of the live measurement. In this case only the matching range is calculated and shown. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 29 The absorbance is calculated by the following equation: Absorbance at a specific wavelength Original measurement value for a specific wavelength Reference curves value at a specific wavelength Figure 30 Absorbance mode Transmittance: © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 30: Peak Finder
SPLICCO offers the possibility to find peaks in an actual measurement. You can find the peakfinder by right clicking on the actual window and selecting "Peak finder..." or selecting 'Tools \ Peak finder' from the menu bar. Figure 32 Right click menu The following wizard will appear. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 31 The peaks can be sorted by amplitude or wavelength and can be iterated with the help of the arrow buttons ("<<" and ">>"). Only one peak can be marked at the same time, but you can export the full list into a tab seperated text file with the "Export" button. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 32: Cursor Control
Using the peak finder Figure 35 Export peaks dialog 3.11 Cursor control SPLICCO provides a cursor for instantaneous readout of wavelength and amplitude. In order to use this feature, right clicj on a graph and choose "Cursor mode". © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 33: Saving Data
The precision is always the same as the precision of the corresponding axis. Figure 37 Device window in cursor mode 3.12 Saving data SPLICCO can save data either in JCAMP-DX or CSV format. JCAMP-DX: © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 34 To export the current measurement data to a *.csv file select 'File / Export CSV...' from the menu. A popup panel appears and you can choose the filename and directory, the separator character and the decimal point. Reference data can be handled in the same way. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 35: Loading Data
You can open a reference in its own window by selecting 'File / Open ...' from the menu or click the button 'Open...' from the toolbar. A file dialog panel appears and you can select a *.jdx file. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 36 This scaling influences the reference curve and future calculations. By pressing "Load" the reference curve is copied into the actual window and can be used for future calculations. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 37: Zooming And Panning
"Zoom home" in the appearing menu. The third option to zoom is the use of the editable graph axis. On each axis you can double click the minimum or maximum value for editing. The axis is rescaled © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 38: Program Navigation
You can also save and load reference data directly. Devices menu In the 'Devices' menu you find all functions regarding your actual connected devices. You can connect / disconnect devices as well as setting device properties. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 39 Help menu You will find the online help in this menu. Furthermore, there is a link to the Thorlabs web page to check for the latest drivers or software version. You can check the current version by selecting 'About...'. Tool Bar The toolbar offers quick access to important functions.
Page 40: Color Setup
Figure 45 Color setup 3.17 Trigger mode SPLICCO is able to generate internal trigger signals (SW) or use external trigger signals to take readings at defined time intervals. You can set the trigger mode in the devices properties. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 41 Figure 47 shows the status symbol and the trigger button. Figure 47 Running data loop By pressing the "Stop Loop" button the data readout is stopped and the symbol changes to: Figure 48 Stopped data loop © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 42: Wavelength Calibration
The SPx-USB family of Spectrometer devices are delivered with calibration data preprogrammed on the device corresponding to the spectrometer optics mounted on the device. This data cannot be erased. Every time a SPx-USB instrument is opened with SPLICCO the calibration data will be uploaded automatically and © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 43 "Accept" to make the changes valid. To add a new point press "Add" and a new point will be added to list and can be edited. To delete a selected point press "Remove" and the point will be removed from list. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 44: Persistence
"Persistence..." from the appearing menu or selecting 'View / Persistence' from the main menu. The persistence dialog offers two sliders for duration and intensity of the persistence feature. After you have chosen the paramters, press "Apply" to make the changes valid. Press "Done" to leave the dialog. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 45: Gaussian Transformation
The appearing dialog offers two sliders for sensitivity and significance, which influences the Gaussian fit. After you have chosen the paramters, press "Apply" to make the changes valid. Press "Done" to leave the dialog. Figure 55 Gauss-Transformation settings © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 46 Virtual devices Splicco Part...
Page 47: Part Iv Virtual Devices
Virtual devices offers some options to manipulate the simulated data. The settings can be changed in the device properties in the "Virtual settings" tab shown in figure 56. Virtual settings are only available in connection with virtual devices. Figure 56 Virtual device settings © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 48: The Virtual Devices Description File
The device can only be opened if the lockstatus is 0. To create a new virtual device for SPLICCO, you have to open the file "CameraDescription.xml" in the installation folder. A new entry should be © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 49 Important: Please make sure that serial numbers are unique. Example: <SPLICCO> <CAMERA_1> <DEVICETYPE>1</DEVICETYPE> <NUM_PIXELS>3000</NUM_PIXELS> <WAVELENGTH_MIN>300</WAVELENGTH_MIN> <WAVELENGTH_MAX>800</WAVELENGTH_MAX> <MANUFACTURER>Thorlabs</MANUFACTURER> <INSTRUMENT>Virtual Linecamera</INSTRUMENT> <SERIALNUMBER>S/N L1N3-0001-CAM</SERIALNUMBER> <REVISION>1.00</REVISION> <ALIAS>LC1</ALIAS> <LOCKSTATUS>0</LOCKSTATUS> </CAMERA_1> </SPLICCO> Figure 57 Virtual device description file ©...
Page 50: Part V Service And Maintenance
Service and maintenance Splicco Part...
Page 51: Troubleshooting
SPLICCO cannot find any devices but the virtual devices : · Check if VISA runtime 4.1.0 or higher is installed. · Make sure that the connected device is made by Thorlabs. · Try to connect the device to another USB slot.
Page 52 "New Found Hardware Wizard" finishes with the error "Cannot install this hardware": · This error occours when the installer cannot find VISA runtime 4.1.0 or higher installed on your system. · Install VISA runtime. Figure 59 Error message in case VISA runtime was not found © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 53 Specifications Splicco Part...
Page 54: Part Vi Specifications
CCD Pixel Size: 7 µm x 200 µm ( 7 µm pitch ) Dimensions ( L x W x H ): 4.4 x 3.6 x 2.0 Inches Weight: 0.70 kg Cables: USB 2.0 Cable 1.80 m. length © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 56 Certifications and compliances Splicco Part...
Page 57: Part Vii Certifications And Compliances
Replaces 89/336/EEC Compliance demonstrated using high-quality shielded interface cables. Emissions, which exceed the levels required by these standards, may occur when this equipment is connected to a test object. Minimum Immunity Test requirement. Replaces 73/23/EEC, amended by 93/68/EEC. © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 58 Appendix Splicco Part VIII...
Page 59: Part Viii Appendix
Restriction of warranty The warranty mentioned above does not cover errors and defects being the result of improper treatment, software or interface not supplied by Thorlabs, modification, misuse or operation outside the defined ambient conditions stated Thorlabs or unauthorized maintenance.
Page 60: Weee
8.2.1 Waste treatment on your own responsibility If you do not return an "end-of-life" unit to Thorlabs, you must hand it to a company specialized in waste recovery. Do not dispose of the unit in a litter bin or at a public waste disposal site.
Page 61: Listings
License agreement Figure 5 Selection of VISA features Figure 6 Finalize installation Figure 7 Request for Administrator priviliges Figure 8 Selecting the installation paths Figure 9 The end user agreement Figure 10 Installation summary Figure 11 Additional notes © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 62 Virtual device description file Figure 58 Error message in case SPLICCO was not installed Figure 59 Error message in case VISA runtime was not found Figure 60 SPx -USB dimensions Figure 61 Crossed out "Wheelie Bin" symbol © 2008 Thorlabs...
Page 63: Addresses
Appendix 8.3.4 Addresses For technical support or sales inquiries, please visit us at www.thorlabs.com/contact for our most up-to-date contact information. USA, Canada, and South America UK and Ireland Thorlabs, Inc. Thorlabs Ltd. sales@thorlabs.com sales.uk@thorlabs.com techsupport@thorlabs.com techsupport.uk@thorlabs.com Europe Scandinavia Thorlabs GmbH Thorlabs Sweden AB europe@thorlabs.com...
Page 64: Index
External trigger - W - - G - Warranty Gaussian Transformation Waste Treatment Getting started Wavelength calibration Graphical User Interface WEEE - Z - - I - Zooming Integration time Introduction - L - List of Acronyms © 2008 Thorlabs...

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