Lab Tour
Come on into the EOI lab and we’ll show you around!
We'll start with my office door and pan around to the right.
Since I do a lot of stuff on B-size vellum, the antique drafting table is appropriate. The print is Botticelli's Madonna del Libro.
Here I'm in the middle of going over the schematics for an ultrastable cavity-locked laser (Allen variance < 1E-10 @ 100,000 seconds)
A clean office is a sign of an empty mind, but I can't show what it actually looks like now. Since this picture was taken, I've acquired two SuperMicro 250 Gflops servers for this room. They have dual 12-core, 64-bit Opterons, hardware RAID, and a bunch of ECC memory, mostly to run POEMS simulations for customers. One runs CentOS 6.5ES Linux and the other Qubes OS v.3.2. Their very high bandwidth to main memory is their main virtue for FDTD.
I keep old databooks, because they have a lot of curves and tables that aren't in the more recent datasheets. I also like old technical books a lot—the ones written by the guy who came up with the concept are usually the clearest and most compelling. I've bought a bunch more since.
Looking from the reception/whiteboard area into the lab.
The optical breadboard, which has been cleared off because I'm about to build something else on it. We have a large quantity of precision optics and micropositioning hardware, so we can test out new ideas very quickly
Electronic prototyping area, showing original Mantis microscope, various scopes, meters, and generators, plus classic Universal AVOMeter Model 8 Mk IV, Simpson 260, and Measurements 59s, as well as prototyping supplies. There's lots more equipment here than appears in the photos.
Rack full of top of the line test equipment, nicely broken in From top: HP 3456A 6.5-digit DMM, HP 4145B Semiconductor Parameter Analyzer, HP 35665A Dynamic Signal Analyzer, Tektronix TDS784A 1 GHz 4 Gs/s Scope (upgraded from a 744A), Tektronix 11802 20 GHz sampling scope with many plugins, HP 8566B 26 GHz spectrum analyzer, HP 8640A synthesizer, HP 3325A synthesizer, EG&G PAR 5208 2-channel lock-in amplifier.
Another view of the prototyping area.
Storage room containing shelves full of gnarly prototypes and shiny work in progress, as well as a lot of optical and micropositioning stuff, including four fancy interferometers, a bag of PMTs, and backup stock of electronic parts.
And last but not least, the EDA/admin/visitor office, with a CAD setup.
Another view of the office, showing a nice comfortable couch for writing firmware in.
The world as seen from the firmware couch.
The other side of the lab, showing project bins and the assembly/testing bench