A Modern Control and Sequencing Platform for Quantum Gas Experiments

We present a new sequencing and control platform for use with ultracold gas experiments, developed by Entangleware and piloted/co-developed by the DeMarco Research group. The system is built around a FPGA core that provides 128 independent digital signals with 20ns timing, using industry-standard hardware from National Instruments. The FPGA core is married to NI analog signal sources based on PCI-cards, providing the full range of digital and analog signals needed to control the experiment. The primary user-interface is in the Python programming language. The intermediate-level Entangleware program converts the Python into machine code and interacts with the hardware drivers. We are developing Python libraries for other useful devices, such as DDS frequency sources that can be purchased as low-cost evaluation boards, and will make them available in an open-source repository.