Yokogawa has unveiled the AQ6374, a high-performance optical spectrum analyser for general-purpose optical testing over the 350-1750nm wavelength range, from visible light through to telecommunications wavelengths.
The successor to the Yokogawa and ANDO-branded AQ6315A wideband optical spectrum analyser, the AQ6374 features diffraction-grating-based monochromator technology that delivers high-precision measurement performance and accuracy. Other new features include an enhanced graphical user interface and an air purging feature designed to minimise the influence of water vapour absorption on spectral measurements.
“The ability to measure over such a broad wavelength range made the original AQ6315A a very valuable test instrument for those R&D centres who carry out research on light spectra from the visible region to the L-band region. The new AQ6374 achieves superior operability and measurement times up to 40 times faster than its predecessor, and also offers a number of new features including the air purging system,” said Terry Marrinan, vice president of sales and marketing, Yokogawa Europe.
Using enhanced control technologies originally developed for the AQ6370 series, the new AQ6374 model achieves superior operability and measurement speeds up to 40 times faster than that achieved by the AQ6315A. The ability to sample 100001 points of data (100 times as much as the AQ6315A) enables measurement over a broad wavelength range with high resolution, while data-transfer rates during remote control via Ethernet are up to 100 times faster than for the AQ6315A.
The measurement performance achieved by the monochromator technology include a wavelength resolution setting from 0.05 to 10nm, a wavelength accuracy of ±0.05nm (at 633 and 1523nm) or ±0.2nm (from 350 to 1700nm), a level accuracy of ±1.0dB, level sensitivity of -80dBm (from 900 to 1600nm), a measurable power range from -80 to +20dBm, a close‐in dynamic range of 60dB (peak ±1.0nm, resolution 0.05nm), and a sweep time less than 0.5s.
Internal memory of 512MB is included and external data storage is supported via a USB interface. Ethernet RJ-45 and GP‐IB interfaces are also incorporated. A built‐in calibration source is provided for a full-automatic optical alignment and wavelength calibration, which takes just a few minutes.
The new purging feature is designed to minimise the influence of water-vapour absorption on spectral measurements by continuously supplying a pure purge gas such as nitrogen (or just some dry air) to the monochromator through dedicated connectors on the back panel.
The AQ6374 features an ergonomically designed graphical user interface for ease of use, incorporating elements such as a full text menu, aggregation of measurement conditions, display of a “hard key” menu the same as the panel layout, and a trace setting menu.