In brief

THM1176 firmware and software updates
Two recent developments for the Three-axis Hall Magnetometer THM1176 will soon be available for download.
– A firmware update that fixes a bug whereby the sign was reversed on all three axes, and provides the capability to better correct for sensor nonlinearities. Some early units cannot be updated by this patch; these have to be returned to Metrolab for a free-of-charge recalibration.
– A major release of the THM1176 software, containing many under-the-hood improvements, including support for new probes such as the low-field probe THM1176-LF. It also merges the code for the PC and the PDA (i.e. desktop and handheld kits), and adds support for the Macintosh.

PT2026 development status
The development of our new NMR Precision Teslameter, the PT2026, is back on track. Drum roll please : the new approach we were contemplating for the RF signal generator works ! Now that we have overcome some of the reported difficulties, we will continue our project to build a new teslameter compatible with all existing Metrolab NMR probes. We now have to incorporate our prototype design into the shipping hardware, and update the firmware and software accordingly. A new estimated ship date will be announced once planning is finalized.

Recent work on pulsed NMR magnetometers
We are currently completing an advanced prototype of the PT2026 NMR Precision Teslameter operating in pulsed-wave mode, for frequencies of up to nearly 1 GHz (about 20 T with a proton sample). So far, we are delighted with the performance, and are eager to continue these developments. Pulsed-wave mode irradiates the NMR sample with a wide-band pulse, and measures the frequency of the returned signal. This approach results in simpler probes, provides better speed and precision, and is better suited to modern electronics.
The PT2026 hardware was conceived to act either as a continuous-wave or as a pulsed-wave NMR teslameter. Continuous-wave mode irradiates the NMR signal with a single RF frequency, locking onto the NMR resonant frequency by crossing and re-crossing the resonance and looking for a small dip in the RF signal level. This approach provides compatibility with Metrolab’s existing probes.

Production launch of the Fast Digital Integrator FDI5026
Metrolab has launched its first production run of the FDI5026, a new ultra high performance digital integrator. The FDI5026 is based on a design developed at the CERN and licensed by Metrolab. As the first part of the technology transfer is now complete, the FDI5026 should start shipping in Q4 of this year. Compared to our PDI5025, which is the current industry standard for precision digital integrators, the FDI5026 offers 100x faster trigger rate and 100x better resolution.