C8855_counting_unit

Class for controlling the C8855 photon counting unit.

Attributes

gate_time_mapping (dict)

Maps human-readable gate times to corresponding hexadecimal values.

transfer_type_mapping (dict)

Maps transfer types to their respective integer values.

trigger_type_mapping (dict)

Maps trigger modes to their respective integer values.

connect_to_rex (bool)

Indicates whether to connect to the rex experiment manager.

toml_config (dict)

Default configuration template for the device

Configuration

This class requires configuration in your config.toml file:

Example Configuration


[device.C8855_photon_counter]
# C8855_photon_counter measurement configuration
# Transfer type, working and validated transfer type is 'block_transfer' however 'single_transfer' is available.
transfer_type = "block_transfer"
# Number of gates: 2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256,512
number_of_gates = 512
# Gate time to use, e.g. '500us' or '1ms', or '2ms' etc. available gate times: '50us': 0x02,'100us','200us','500us','1ms','2ms','5ms','10ms','20ms','50ms','100ms','200ms','500ms','1s','2s','5s','10s'
gate_time = "500us"
# Type of device triggering to use (external, software)
trigger_type = "external"
# Number of averages to take
averages = 16
# Measurement mode to use, counts only (counts_only), trace only (trace), or both as a tupple (all)
measure_mode = "counts_only"
# DLL path to use for C8855 photon counter
dll_path = "/path/to/dll"

Methods

setup_config

Loads device configuration and initializes the DLL functions.

general_measurement

Performs a single measurement cycle, including resetting, setting up, starting, reading, and stopping.

stop_counting

Signature: stop_counting(handle)

Stops the photon counting process.

Args: handle (ctypes.c_void_p): A handle to the C8855 device.

Returns: bool: True if the counting was successfully stopped, False otherwise.

measure

Conducts multiple measurements based on the configured number of averages.

Returns: float | tuple: Depending on measure_mode, returns either total count, trace data, or both.

open_device

Opens a connection to the device.

Returns: ctypes.c_void_p: Handle to the device.

reset_device

Signature: reset_device(handle)

Resets the device to its default state.

Args: handle (ctypes.c_void_p): Device handle.

Returns: bool: True if successful, False otherwise.

close_device

Signature: close_device(handle)

Closes the connection to the device.

Args: handle (ctypes.c_void_p): Device handle.

Returns: int: Status of the close operation.

setup_device

Signature: setup_device(handle, gate_time, transfer_mode, number_of_gates)

Configures the device with the specified parameters.

Args: handle (ctypes.c_void_p): Device handle. gate_time (ctypes.c_ubyte): Gate time setting. transfer_mode (ctypes.c_ubyte): Transfer mode setting. number_of_gates (ctypes.c_ushort): Number of gates for measurement.

Returns: bool: True if setup was successful, False otherwise.

start_counting

Signature: start_counting(handle, trigger_mode)

Starts the counting process.

Args: handle (ctypes.c_void_p): Device handle. trigger_mode (ctypes.c_ubyte, optional): Trigger mode. Defaults to C8855_EXTERNAL_TRIGGER.

Returns: bool: True if counting started successfully, False otherwise.

read_data

Signature: read_data(handle, data_buffer)

Reads data from the device into the provided buffer.

Args: handle (ctypes.c_void_p): Device handle. data_buffer (Pointer_c_ulong): Buffer to store retrieved data.

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