Instrumentation amplifier resolution

The resolution of the A/D conversion is also determined by the input range of the ADC and the gain. DAQ boards usually include an instrumentation amplifier that amplifies the analog signal by a gain factor... 

The most important thing to do is to scrutinize more specifications than the resolution of the AID converter that is used on the DAQ board. For DC-class measurements, you should at least consider the settling time of the instrumentation amplifier, differential non-linearity (DNL), relative accuracy, integral nonlinearity (INL), and noise. If the manufacturer of the board you are considering does not supply you with each of these specifications in the data sheets, you can ask the vendor to provide them or you can run tests yourself to determine these specifications of your DAQ board. 

Such single-mode lasers, often pulse amplified by dye laser amplifiers pumped by injection-locked Nd YAG lasers, are used in nonlinear Raman techniques by which an instrumental resolution better than 0.001 cm is achieved (Esherick and Owyoung (1982), Schrotter et al. (1988a)). 

The basic operation of the instrument (3) consists of the Ionization of the sample in the cell by a timed electron beam which Is followed, after a short Interval, by an RF pulse applied to the plates of the cell. This pulse coherently excites all ions In the cell into cyclotron motion. The motion continues after cessation of the pulse, and the resonance is detected by the plates of the cell, amplified and the data stored In the computer. The excltatlon/detection cycle is repeated numerous times and the collected data summed. The data Is then subjected to fourler transformation and the frequency spectrum resulting converted into a mass spectrum. The spectrum Is normalized to the major peak. For quantitative work, the calibration can be based either on peak height or peak area. Here, major considerations will Include the resolution chosen and the relative concentrations of the constituents under Investigation. 

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