MIT RLE Forum Talk - Precise Timing & Frequency Analyses with Swabian Instruments Time Taggers

The engineering behind picosecond timing and precise frequency measurements

Swabian Instruments recently presented at the T.J. Rogers Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE) Forum at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where our scientists, Edoardo Mornacchi and Mickey Martini, explained the engineering principles behind modern time-tagging electronics and how they are applied to picosecond timing, precision synchronization, and timing & frequency analysis.

The MIT RLE forum encourages speakers to focus on how technology works. It includes graduate students, researchers, and engineering experts to foster insightful discussions on measurement approaches and practical engineering considerations.

Precise time tagging matters in many modern experiments because they rely on measuring the exact arrival times of electrical or optical events. Swabian Instruments’ Time Tagger Series platform can record every event with a precise timestamp and stream it to a computer, enabling users to perform flexible, software-defined analysis in real time. Common applications include:

• Quantum optics and quantum communication
• Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM)
• Time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC)
• Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS)
• Pulse-per-second (PPS) monitoring
• Frequency stability analysis (FSA) including Allan Deviation
• Phase noise analysis
• Precision timing and metrology applications

The Time Tagger Architecture

This presentation explores the complete signal path inside the Time Tagger from the analog input to the picosecond-resolution timestamp generation, including:

• Comparator trigger-level selection
• Digital timestamp generation
• FPGA processing
• High-speed data streaming
• Real-time software analysis

The fact that analysis occurs on the host computer rather than inside the device affects the hardware logic. It provides users with the flexibility to implement custom workflows, measurements, and algorithms. For scalable experiments, multiple Time Taggers can be synchronized to operate as a single system with more than 100 synchronized input channels.

For engineers working in this field, achieving picosecond timing performance depends on much more than high-performance electronics. Practical factors that significantly influence measurement accuracy include:

• Cable dispersion
• Signal attenuation
• Impedance matching
• Reflections
• Cross-talk
• Signal slew rate
• Trigger level optimization

Our practical example demonstrated the characteristics and influence of 100 m coaxial cables on the timing performance across different signal frequencies. It showed that measurable timing shifts might become increasingly important in systems that require ultra-high precision. Understanding these effects is crucial for researchers to design experiments that preserve the full-time performance of their instrumentation and accommodate their experimental needs.

For more information, the complete technical seminar is available online and offers an in-depth analysis of the engineering behind precision time tagging and synchronization measurements.

If you would like to learn more about how precise timing instrumentation may overlap with your current and future experiments, we’d love to hear from you at solutions@swabianinstruments.com